US Road Fatalities 2001-09 mapped with OpenStreetMap

The manufacturers haven't produced small bikes for a while, other than dirt bikes. There's only a handful of small street bikes being produced, like the Ninja 250 and the Night Hawk.

I'd recommend a 125cc for learning basic roadcraft too, particularly if you aren't riding in the US. But the US is highly car-oriented, with a lot of big wide roads and impatient people driving automatics. It's not necessarily easy to go safely from A to B on a bike that has a hard time exceeding 55mph and takes its time getting there. So I think a starting out on a bigger bike makes sense in the US. Not that it's less dangerous than it used to be; rather, that the alternative, annoying the drivers behind and around you, is even worse.

I rode a 125cc scooter for over a year before I got a 125cc geared bike, and rode that for about 6 months before I got an ER6f (the same thing as the Ninja 650r), and my current scooter is an SH300. There are lots of things you learn about on a smaller bike, particularly in the city: observations, road positioning, hazards. Pedestrians, cyclists and cars emerging from gaps in traffic without warning. Truckers stopping to let a pretty girl cross the road while you're going down the inside bus lane, and of course you can neither see over nor through a truck. In the city, you learn to be acutely suspicious of gaps forming and avoid riding close to stopped cars, whether parked or not.

But many of these things are either specific to big city navigation and filtering, or you would learn in a car in any case. In a typical American city, you don't have the kind of filtering you see in London, much less somewhere like Taipei, and you can take for granted that the guy considering getting a bike can drive and probably has for many years.

Furthermore, there's a whole other level of learning that only happens when you're on a big bike. A 125cc geared bike is so incredibly light - it's almost like a bicycle - that you have no worries about dropping it when stopping using poor technique - braking with the front while turning, for example. And it has so little torque you'll never notice a cold rear tire slipping out on an aggressive corner, because outside of gravel on the road or wet manhole covers, it'll never happen. Not to say it can't be fun. I had plenty of launch practice: hi-rev clutch-slipping to clutchless shifting, eking out every scrap of acceleration I could. But it's not long before the stuff you're learning isn't transferable to a big bike.

So I think it depends on how much road experience you have, where you're riding, and what kind of riding you plan on doing (cities favour smaller bikes). A modern 250 or 500 probably would make a better beginner's bike. But 500cc bikes are pretty rare these days, and while 250cc are just on the edge of enough power, I don't think you'd want to have one for more than a few months, unless you're using it as an alternative to a scooter in the city.

Something very similar has been done years ago: http://www.city-data.com/accidents/acc-Chicago-Illinois.html. Per-city mapping using Google Maps with additional info and Google street map when clicking on each marker.

I emphasize that enough - riding after any alcohol is temporary citizenship.

But aside from not drinking or rising like an idiot the biggest thing we motorcyclists can do to increase our safety is to wear a high visibility jacket. It creates a noticeable difference in the percentage of other road users that see you, which addresses the major cause of accidents. Protective gear is a last resort - it's better to avoid the accident in the first place.

The best protective gear is the stuff you wear, so for short trips if you are tempted to leave the heavy gear behind, at least throw on a light flouro jacket.

Friends don't let friends ride Kawasakis, especially Ninjas.

My pet theory is that each motorcycle has a use or personality, and after riding it for a while your behaviour ends up matching the personality of the bike.

BMW tourers make you want to ride the curves from coast to coast, but do so safely. They don't mind a bit of speed, but are also content to cruise at legal limits.

Harleys want you to cruise the straight desolate highways, without a helmet (dumb, but if you are going to ride without a helmet, the a straight desolate highway is the place to do it). They also like being polished and sitting in front of cafes.

A trail bike wants you to turn left up that hill, and go explore, while a top end enduro bike wants you to do that a bit too quickly. A KTM adventure (I have one) wants you to load it up and blast across a desert, and does so remarkably well.

Sports bikes, and the Ninja is the worst no matter what the size, want you to crouch down and go as fast as possible. They eat away at your soul, and you just have to go faster and faster. There's a bad ending waiting for you, especially for early career riders.

So buy a bike that matches your use case.

The upright road/trail bike with a top box is an excellent all-round choice for commuting, adventure and a bit of safe speed. (Triumph Tiger, BMW F800GS/F65GS, BMWR1200GS, Yamaha XT etc). A sport bike is great if you are able to use it on a track, or for the occasional blast in the desolate hills. A laid back cruiser needs wide open spaces and lots of cafes - they are not about safe speed or twisties.

But the ultimate use for a bike is travel, and the further the better. Get something you are comfortable on for hours, and which has the ability to go on anywhere.