My first big bike came from a swap I did for my Suzuki GN125. A Kawasaki KLR650 Tengai. What? I hear you say. Yep there isn't that many around because they are ugly compared to the modern sports fayre. All said it has worked out to be the absolute perfect fist bike for me. It's a big single so it's easy to work on. You can choose any gear and stay there all day if you wish such is the low down torque. I love the fact that I can take the local un-made roads and have a great laugh.

It is no dirt bike though, stray off the tracks and your knackered. The seat height is about 870mm which puts it way above everything else and me being 6'1" and long legged suits me fine. I can see way over any car and van on the road which enables me to predict and filter with less worries.

I will be looking for a newer bike as soon as I build up some no claims bonus and turn 30. I've tried some sporty bikes but the Tengai's riding position and wide bars coupled with the height makes me feel like king of the road.

The only gripes I have is the vibration (common to all big singles) and the fairing does very little above 80mph. Saying that I've only taken it to 90 and it didn't have much left. Mind you when I'm commuting to work mainly on busy A and B roads, I don't need top speed.

All in all I'd reccomend one as a first bike if you're tall or even a winter bike.