I can vouch that this is a GREAT beginner bike. I had this as my first bike, and man, I LOVED it. It was not the fastest thing that I would kill myself learning proper riding techniques, but it still wayy fast that I'd be at the end of the block before other cars even move off from the stop light. You can use the maximum power out of this and not kill yourself, but just have some clean fun learning to ride, and still pleanty of fun even after you can ride. I would recommend anyone learning to have one for at least a whole year before upgrading to a more powerful machine.