[aussieidiot]

If you can, buy second hand. That way the the bike has already lost most of its value, so when you sell it, you'll get almost what you paid for it.

Also, You are learning, so you will make mistakes. We all have.

You'll park it on a hill at the wrong angle and it may fall over. You'll stall it, run out of petrol, over balance when you move it, etc. All of these things are part of learning and can damage your bike and pride. Imagine doing it to a brand new bike!

When you buy your safety gear, there are two ways of thinking about it. Buy top of the range gear because it will last longer than your first bike, BUT, as your learning, you will drop your helmet and do stupid stuff. Also you may spend top dollar and it may not fit properly or you may not be comfortable in it.

If you buy from the middle value range, you may be getting less protection but you haven't invested top dollar if you want to change, or if you damage it.

Personally, I bought top of the line gear because my life was worth it. I considered it a better insurance policy to have the good gear and be able to get up and walk away than save a few bucks and maybe a end up in hospital. (this is all hypothetical, because you never know when you'll go down or how)

I had a mate go down in normal jeans and a cheap RJ's jacket. He tore the jeans from his legs and the jacket stitching gave way leaving him with nasty road rash to his legs, arse and arms. I've come off wearing Redmax Kevlar jeans and Dainese jacket and all I had to do was to use a leather conditioner to take out the scuff marks and wash the jeans.