Thanks for all the feedback, it is definately taken into consideration. My whole idea is to have a comfortable bike that I will enjoy riding through the Texas hillcountry. I had to go to home depot today out in the bulverde area (north of san antonio) and it was a beautiful drive. I had flashes of me in a motorcycle and i think I wet myself. lol

As I got home, I took the wife out to a dealership to see some bikes in order to get her opinion. Without saying anything, I showed her the 3 models I was interested in and she was leaning more towards the Suzuki Boulevard C50 (my top choice ) so in that sense its all looking pretty promising.

We hoped on it and she was able to get a feel for the seat with the backrest (as it is something I have to get for her). As far as storage, its a must. I need a place to put some stuff cause you never know what you might find out on the road (as well as a change of clothes in case its an overnight trip.

So for now, my job is to take the motorcycle safety course and get my license endorsement. Those 2 will happen this month. The bike itself I might be purchasing sometime in June / July as a "congrats on your masters" present to myself. In the meantime, I will rent a C50 for a day and take it out to see how it rides on the open road. Maybe a few others as well.

The bike I get will definately be a used bike as I do not want to splurge so much on my first bike. Besides, I won't be using it everyday. Coming across a deal might be hard and I might not be able to find it in San Antonio so all surrounding cities (Austin, Houston, Dallas) are fair game.

I'll keep you all posted on the progress!