They make a Z400 with similar styling that's much cheaper.
While nothing (mainly) wrong with the Z650, I'd spend the extra and get the Honda 650 for the sweeter sounds of the I4. And I prefer the styling too (but understand why some would prefer the Kawi styling).
If you're now considering parallel twins, the Yamaha MT-07 sounds far better and is well loved by owners. Cheap, too.
The CB650 is a tough sell - it's much more costly than the Z650 and I just don't like the look of it as well (though they had a Nardo grey version at the store that was nicer than I expected). It's $10.6 k versus $8.4k for the Z650. Even more problematic, it is just $500 less than the Z900 ($11.1k) - which also has an I4 and pretty much blows the CB into the weeds in terms of my desire to own one. It would also be a destination bike for me rather than a stepping stone. Heck, a new Z900 doesn't cost much more than a used Duke 790.
I accept the popularity of the Yahama MT range but a) don't love the looks and b) they are uniformly described as having a high hooligan element to their DNA whereas something more smooth and refined better suits my preferences.
At present it looks like if I'm going for a short stepping stone, Duke 390 is an absolute no-brainer. If I'm looking for something I would likely keep and enjoy longer that won't break the bank - Z650 looks like the bike to beat. And of course, if Trident availability concides with my M2 (if that even facking happens this summer), then that is the one I would get.
But the whole licensing uncetainty is a killer. Grabbing something now and sitting on it until later this summer is fine ASSUMING I actually get to take the course this summer. There is about a 2 month backlog for them to re-schedule, and having been bumped I have absolutely NO idea if I will even be slotted back in this summer. We are almost facking done with June.
When I started this whole quest for motorcycle ridership, it really never dawned on me that getting licensed and actually finding a bike to purchase would be huge variables.
![Sad :(](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/sad.gif)