In Mass, it's about $200, and optional. In RI, it'$25 and mandatory. I'm in Mass.

Of course, before I took it, I looked up the safety statistics for several states that mandated it. For the 1st 6-12 months, accident rates  and deaths dropped between 50 and 75% depending on the state (this was 2001 numbers, so they may no longer be current).
Now, I figured, $200 to reduce my risk of dieing by half, or being splatted to the 4 winds. Seemed like a no brainer to me. Ok, a couple less dinners out to pay for it.  

I had done some research into beginner bikes and found the Kymco Venox (a relatively unknown Taiwan-made bike) was an excellent choice. They are just 250cc but everything about the bike spells big, solid, comfortable and with moderately high power. Build quality is excellent. The aesthetics of the motorcycle is excellent and the quality is superb. Seat height is just 29 inches. The brand new price is around $4200, but I purchased an earlier model (with 1200 miles on it) for under 2 grand, which was a steal. Simply sitting on it gives one the feel and look of a 650cc.

I completed the MSF course and chose this after riding a Honda Rebel and a Suzuki GZ250 during the riding course.

The Kymco Venox is so very comfortable, sturdy and a sheer pleasure to ride. Also, I have had umpteen people admiring and asking questions about it, most guessed it to be between 600cc and 1000cc.

Being a 250cc, my insurance comes up to about $130/year which is so reasonable and economical to ride. Its quite comfortable with a passenger as well. The maximum speed I have reached is about 75mph on the highway and have rarely felt the need to go above 70 actually.

Anyone looking for a solid starter bike witha very reasonable price tag should consider the Kymco Venox. Also, all the reviews and tests that I have read on the internet are extremely positive and the motorcycle itself is a beauty.  

I had done some research into beginner bikes and found the Kymco Venox (a relatively unknown Taiwan-made bike) was an excellent choice. They are just 250cc but everything about the bike spells big, solid, comfortable and with moderately high power. Build quality is excellent. The aesthetics of the motorcycle is excellent and the quality is superb. Seat height is just 29 inches. The brand new price is around $4200, but I purchased an earlier model (with 1200 miles on it) for under 2 grand, which was a steal. Simply sitting on it gives one the feel and look of a 650cc.

I completed the MSF course and chose this after riding a Honda Rebel and a Suzuki GZ250 during the riding course.

The Kymco Venox is so very comfortable, sturdy and a sheer pleasure to ride. Also, I have had umpteen people admiring and asking questions about it, most guessed it to be between 600cc and 1000cc.

Being a 250cc, my insurance comes up to about $130/year which is so reasonable and economical to ride. Its quite comfortable with a passenger as well. The maximum speed I have reached is about 75mph on the highway and have rarely felt the need to go above 70 actually.

Anyone looking for a solid starter bike witha very reasonable price tag should consider the Kymco Venox. Also, all the reviews and tests that I have read on the internet are extremely positive and the motorcycle itself is a beauty.  

something a heavy new rider has to deal with is the simple fact that these bikes have low maximum loads

being 280 lbs, this ruled out all of the 250, 500 and most 650cc's as they were only a few pounds above my weight in maximum loads.

heck, even the vulcan 900 classic which i went with has a maximum load of 397.