My Baby is Gone! And She's Only 8 Years Old.

[portascat]

There's a bunch of nice bikes in this thread!
Not to derail too much, but as a kid who's full of pIss and vinegar would anyone recommend a good starter bike?

To LEARN on, take most any "beginner riders course". They will teach you how to ride from the perspective of never having ridden at all, and have most folks riding within a days class. Riding well enough to take on residential streets and short commutes. And they will provide the bike (typically something in the 250 cc range) to learn on, and occasionally dump.
Your "first bike" should usually be looked upon as just that. Harley had a deal where they were selling 1200 cc Nightster Sportsters cheap, and offering a full value "trade up" in a year on a new full sized bike. You can still find 1 and 2 year old low mile Nightsters for around $5-7K (US).
I don't know tons about sport bikes, but anything from the major Jap makers in the 650-700 range is typically a nice starter bike for someone with brains, a bit of experience, and knows how to find his/her limitations intelligently. You can always find local "track days", to increase your limitations and learn your handling skills safely and in a controlled environment.

 

[jankomatic]

Here is my bike when it was new a few years ago. It looks a bit different these days. I have owned a number of bikes in my life, but I think I will stick with the power cruiser as long as they keep making them. 1800 V-Twin turning a little over 140 HP AND I get to ride it sitting up right, can't beat that.

 

[pstlpkr]

This is a photo I found of the same model that I learned to ride on.

It is a 1979 Yamaha DT 250 F Enduro w/monoshock rear suspension.

It's even the same color... On it I was able to explore all of the Hawaiian Islands, with a couple of restricted exceptions of course.