new concerns

i've heard from a number of riders that the suzuki sv650 and the ninja 650 are good beginner friendly bikes. i just am not that attracted to the sv650 or the ninja 650. they are a little tall for me i think. i'm bout 5'5 or so. and i've heard that lowering a bike can mess up how it handles. are us short people doomed to only ride cruisers and the small sport bikes? (ninja 250, 500 etc)  

Attractuiveness aside, have you actually sat on the ninja650? Its billed as having a low seat. What about having your legs lengthened?  kidding, that is one problem, there is a relatively small market in the US for beginer sport bikes. Bear in mind thought that their are aftermarket fairings for the SV to give it that fully covered look. Personally i thought the SV looked better when it first came out with the round frame members as opposed to the angular look it has now.

another option to lowering bikes is to lower the seat, you could either get a custom one or even make your own.  

The SV650 has lots of fans. You should go sit on one at a dealer and see what you think. I would also do a search for a Forum that is specific to the SV650 and ask lots of questions. I'm thinking it would be a good starter bike for you.  

u mean i can lower the seat without messing up the handling of the bike????  

Anything you do to a bike is going to effect the handling somewhat, losing 10 pounds would have an effect, but i would think shaving an inch off of the seat would have less of an impact than messing withthe shock and fork to achieve the same effect