Best motorcycle for a beginner?

I'm looking to get my first motorcycle soon.

Background; I'M 5'10'' 145lbs. Only experience on a motorcycle is a riding a Honda cr80 when I was a teen. Also took a couple trips around the block on my friends R1 and that was way to much power for me.

I'm not looking to drag race from stop light to stop light. I'm in my early 30's so speed isn't my thing, just want to cruise around on 2 wheels. I won't be doing any freeway riding, no long trips, just around town and some back road cruising.

I was looking at buying a newer used Ninja 250 I've seen several for sale in the $1,800-$2,400 range. I've been watching a lot of Ninja 250 videos and it look like the right choice.

So with the given info what do you guys/gals think. I should add that I DON'T want a Harley/Vstar style bike.

Smaller sprocket on a dirt bike?

I have a Honda crf100f and it goes fairly fast but i want it to go faster. People have been telling me to put a smaller sprocket on the back. And i would like my bike to be like the 2 strokes and 450s where if you give them enough gas they wheelie on their own. Will switching to a smaller back sprocket allow my bike to wheelie on its own?

Will the honda xr650l be too tall for me?

I'm really interesting in the xr650l dualsport but i'm 5'8" without any kind of boots with a 30-31" inseam. I know the seat height for this bike is 37. Would it be too tall to the point it would be unsafe for me to ride?

Why is my Honda CB250 motorbike spewing out so much smoke?

When I run my bike it gives off a lot of smoke when riding and at the lights. As far as I can tell it runs fine, but just smokes a lot. It was so bad tonight that the taxi behind me was pretty much engulfed by smoke, so much so I was worried if he could see the road properly or not. I of tern take it on longish distances (over an hour of riding at about 90ks an hour (56 miles. Could that have damaged it ( I know its not exactly designed for that)

Why do Ducati not just copy Honda or Yamaha and make a fast bike in Motogp?

Iv got a lot to say on this as it annoys me. I was going to ask why is Cal Crutchlow performing so badly this season but the answers obvious. Porsche 911 have always stuck to the idea of putting the engine right at the back of the car even though the cars would oversteer out of control and spin off the road and crash but now they have made the idea work but Ducati have not made it work. Secondly any progress Ducati make, Yamaha and Honda make progress at the same time so what's the point. Thirdly why don't Ducati give up instead of wasting riders time and injuring them, is it a publicity stunt (Nicky Hayden American public, Cal Crutchlow British public) or what are Ducati's plans?

1982 Honda Nighthawk 650(Motorcycle). Ultra High Idle?

I just purchased this bike for a good price… It looks great but when i start it up the idle runs ridiculously high… Seriously like 7000 plus… At first i thought the throttle cable might be too tight… But its functioning perfectly… So then i thought it might be an issue with the carbs… But i cleaned them out and right now they are spick and span… Looking brand new… Still the problem persists… I have some old boots hooking my carbs up… I heard that might be the problem… And i'm gonna change them… But this thing is idling so very high that i suspect another problem… What are some other things to look for if replacing the boots fails?

Would this be a stupid idea for owning a motorcycle?

Ok so i love riding dirt trails but i have come to the conclusion that either ill do 90% dirt on one trip or ill do 95% road on another so here was my plan. I don't want a 650cc dual sport because i want want a light bike just to have fun on and i know if i were to take out the dual sport i would mostly dive on gravel and dirt roads. So i was thinking of buying the honda crf250l for when i want to do dirt and buying the Kawasaki z1000 for when i want to do road. So is this a bad idea or would it be completely justified