If you're dead set on new, you can't rule out the Triumph TT600 either. Personally, I think it's the best looking 600cc bike out there hands down. It's not flashy, but is muscular looking and smooth.
The Triumph took a lot of critisism from many riders when it first came out in 2000, I beleive. It had some serious EFI glitches which caused a loss of power in the midrange that was very frustrating. Also people were babbling on about the TT's not making the same power as other bikes in their class. The latter comment is false. The TT600's put down about 93-94rwhp out of the crates. It's right on par with the ZX-6R and the F4. The YZF-R6 and GSX-600R have the advantages. As for the EFI glitches, Triumph spent a lot of time working them out with new remaps, and they fluctuated the hp levels a little, but the later remaps seem to have it working great. For the people who were so hung up on that, even the R6 had some HORRIBLE carb glitches in a few instances right from the factory. It's not like it's unheard of. The Triumph is heavier than it's competition despite the factories very optimistic claims that it's around 375. Heh. It's closer to 425, making it the heaviest of the hi-po 600's. Still, all the reports said it had an excellent chassis and some of the best brakes in the class. If it was a lighter and the engine could compete with the top two bikes, it would have made some crazy waves when it hit the market. Reliability issues were mainly around the EFI glitches and the clutch cable (which has been fixed).
Again, I would stress that starting out with a brand new bike is very expensive, especially when you don't know if you will like it, and you're gonna have a ton of power. If you lay it down, it's gonna be REAL expensive.
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