Henry, I tend to dissagree with you. A heavy powerful bike is something you must respect. My first bike when I was 16 yrs old and only 180lbs was my fathers 1974 Kawasaki z1 900. Which weighs close to 500lbs. Worse-over it had an upright seating position which caused the bike to have a high center of gravity, drum brake rear, and disc brake front, with skinny tires. No leaning on curves you either slowed down, or you had tire wobble.
That was a monster bike for a 16yr old. Granted I had a wonderful teacher. When i got onto the GTS, it was heavy into the turns, but the balance, control, and torque where amazing in comparison. Old technology vs New technology I guess! I learned to countersteer from my friend David that went to race school. So yes, that might be a higher advanced riding technique, but very easy to understand and practice. My point to you Henry is if you are going to ride out of control/out of your abilities, then it does not matter what bike you purchase you are still going to be a danger to yourself and others. If he enjoys the GTS, like we all do....then he can learn to ride it with control, which may take years of practice before he is comfortable. But the GTS is not a nightmare of a bike, you could learn it, if you took the time and dont over judge your abilities.....and if he took your class of course.(free promo :) P.S. I recommend ANY GTS, to Anyone, you simply cant find the same standard features, front and rear ABS, EFI, liquid cooled, the list goes on and on, not to mention the rare anti-dive swing arm, for an affordable price range. The features alone drew me into the GTS. Thor Metzinger
