If you really want a starter cruiser and don’t want to go with a 250 (I sure wouldn’t knowing how underpowered cruiser engines are compared to standard/sportbike engines), the Yamaha V-Star 650 should be the absolute biggest bike you consider. The Kawasaki Vulcan 500, however, despite being smaller, is actually quicker and faster due its sportbike-derived engine.
If you won’t go that small, then you really don’t belong anywhere near a bike. I’m sorry but after spending days talking to my friend Lauren and trying to talk her out of buying a GSXR for her first bike, I’m through sugar coating things and I’m not holding back anymore.
You, sir, are the kind of guy who gives the rest of us a bad name. Assuming you aren’t scared sh*tless the first time you crack the throttle open and garage it or sell it after releasing your bowels, you’re going to wreck your bike within a few months after buying it and possibly die from the accident. You will then become a statistic. The kind that insurance companies look to when they decide MY premiums.
Start out on a V-star 650 or smaller, or start putting money toward paying the monthly insurance payments of everyone who uses this forum. You and everyone else who buys a bike that no beginner belongs on for their first bike owe it to the rest of us.