New Rider Questions

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and new to motorcycles. I just got my motorcycle license about two months ago. Thus far, my riding has been limited to a 50cc Honda Ruckus that I use at race tracks as a pit bike and a 1982 Honda XL185S that I bought a few months ago as a learner bike. Even though I've been riding the Ruckus for a couple years and the 185 for only a few months, I feel surprising comfortable on actual roads and with the shifting that's involved with the 185.

For years I wanted to get a motorcycle and now that I've learned to ride, it's time to trade in the training bike and get a real motorcycle. I've been looking at bikes for a couple years now and have seriously considered the Honda CB500X and CB1100, the Ducati Moster, and the Harley Davidson Iron 883, 1200 Custom, and Forty-Eight. I've read a ton of info and watched almost every youtube video known to man on all of these bikes and they all seem like pretty good options for a novice rider. Until last week when I saw the NineT for the first time, I had never given BMW bikes much consideration. Of course all that changed as soon as I saw the NineT.

I absolutely love the looks of this bike. I don't know a whole lot about the engine and am wondering if this is too much bike for a new rider. I want something that I can manage and that won't kill me if I twist the throttle too hard or mis-shift. I am not new to powerful machines. I have a 500+ HP mustang, but I realize things are very different with two wheels vs. four. If anyone knows a bit more about how this engines performs I'd love to hear it.

Also, because these engines stick out on the sides of the bike quite a bit more than V-twins or even the inline four of the Honda, is there more risk of damaging the engine if the bike gets dropped? I've never dropped the Ruckus or 185, but these are about 210 lbs and 260 lbs, respectively. Are there bars or pegs that can be installed that would protect the engine?

Thanks for the info.