Late to the game here but thought I'd share my wifes bike progression over the years. ... She stared with a vstar 250 great for learning but once she had it down and knew what she was doing we quickly realize how anemic it was almost to dangerous levels and we made a mistake. The bike was just too light to be stable at speeds, or in any kind of cross wind it was all over the place. On the open road it didn't have enough power to get out of its own way. One time on a 4 lane(non interstate)she was attempting to over take a semi at maybe 65mph. She got beside the semi and stayed there, took a few miles to make the pass. I gave her hell at the net stop saying if that truck would have made a bad move or lost tire she would have been dead. Her reply made the decision to get rid of that turd. She said "I had it wide open" she hit the side draft off the truck and the bike just hit a wall. Around town this bike would be fine but anything over 45 mph i would strongly discourage it.
She then went to a Honda VLX600, great bike pretty much bullet proof. 100lbs heavier than the 250 and almost twice the power. She rode that for several years. then she wanted a more all day bike to ride. One more for the hiway and open road so we went with the vstar 1100. It was a okay bike for her although "I" hated it. Really heavy for what it was carberated and air cooled, don't regret buying it but she wanted something different eventually. She now has here Indian Scout and WOW! what a bike. Lots of power, perfect size and comfort for her. That thing still impresses me. Can't think of a better bike for her now.