Great bike for learners, got a new 08 one about 2 months ago for the wife and daughter. They love the handling, the ride, and it certainly goes fast enough for them when they get game enough to open it up a bit. Very quiet smooth engine great on fuel and to top it off they look good too.
Big Wheel version, very forgiving bike in all aspects for learners

the one thing ide recomend is to take the spark arrester off it sounds sweet but thats wher it gets loud
i put renthal bars on it and a racing throttle it reduces arm travel
i bought a 2003 model and i think the suspension is forgiving
the bottom end is not very good ide give it a 5 out of ten but when you hit the top the power kicks in.