I want to get a nice street bike! whats cheap and nice looking for a newbie?

The Russian Ural. It is basically a copy of the WWII era BMW. You can even get camo model a sidecar with two wheel drive and a machine gun mount.

They have decent looking regular bikes, too.

go to walmart they have lots of them

NOT Walmart. My roommate bought a bike there a few months ago, and the handlebars stripped and now slide back and forth, and the left handbrake just broke (it was all plastic).

I'd recommend checking out local bike stores in your area. Big sports stores are great, but little shops love what they do and will help you find the best bike for you.

Just check in a phone book or something.

Hard to beat Yamaha and Suzuki prices but these days it seems none are really cheap as riding grows more popular. i'm a Harley guy myself. There expensive but I gotta tell you there are very hard to hurt to the point that you can't ride it. If your just wanting like a 500 or something I would check out the Yamaha.

you can get an older ninja for under 5000

If you have completed an MSF course or have like 3000 miles of experience, I'd recommend a YZF-600, ZZR600 or Katana 600.

If you already know and understand how to drive a manual transmission, it helps learning a motorcycle because it's one less thing you have to focus on when learning. The common saying is that if you can drive a stick and ride a bicycle, learning a motorcycle will be easy. If you can practice discipline and restraint when riding, you may be fine. It's not all fun and games on a sport bike. Even if you ride perfect you need to know how to react when other cars and bikes and trucks don't drive so perfect. That comes from building new instincts and reflexes, and driving habits. While I definitely recommend the class, the class doesn't usually teach all you need to know. Many, many riders go down every summer due to overconfidence gained by taking the class.

The first time I ever touched a motorcycle, it was a 1997 ZX6. I rode it around a parking lot for 5 minutes to find out how to shift, then rode 100 miles home on the interstate. I鈥檝e been riding ever since with a clean riding history. (Thanks to God) So it is possible to start on something other than a 250.

When I ride on the highway, I assume that every car I pass or that passes me, doesn't see me and is looking to come into my lane. I'm ready for any move that car makes half a second before he makes it.

You have to learn aerodynamics. If you get to close behind a rig, the wind can trap you there. When you pass along side of a rig the wind will pull you closer to the truck at one point and push you away at another. You have to learn all this and have counter balance and movements programmed into your body reflexes. There is so much more to it. You need lots of practice.

People recommend smaller CC bikes for beginners because most newbies are into it for the speed and flashiness of it and often underestimate the seriousness of riding safe. The temptation to tap into that power is usually too great to overcome. If you know you can and will respect the bike and get at least 3 thousand miles of practice before hitting the highway, and before group rides, then maybe you can start on a 600cc bike. Otherwise, help yourself out and start small.