Which bike company

[MrGoodfella]

This will be my first bike, what company in general makes the best overall bike as far as quality and reliability goes?

[Schneiderman]

All of the Japanese, American, Italian, German and British ones.

There is no best at all...

What's your height, weight, age, riding experience and preferred style?

[MrGoodfella]

I'm 6 feet even, about 165, 23, new rider and I'm mainly going to be using this bike for basic transportation due to rising gas prices. What are you suggesting?

[Schneiderman]

The Ninja 250, 500 and 650; GS500 and various SV650 models; Versys, different dualsports and any small cruiser can do what you're looking for. All these bikes are high quality and it comes down to what you want in a bike. The Ninja 500 is generally considered superior to the GS500, but you can probably find a GS500 for less.