[acammer]

I skimmed this, so may it was said already - but when it comes to motorcycles (and I've had several that I rode on my 60 mile commute daily) I'm a firm believer in the "Loud pipes save lives" philosophy. You're harder to see on 2 wheels, and everybody has their face buried in their phones, you've got to take every step you can to get noticed with those you share the road with. The bright lights are definitely a good idea as well.

The R3 should be plenty of highway power, who-ever said they had problems getting a 600 to cruise on the highway is out of their minds. Riding gear, as mentioned, is a must have.

Your dirt-bike experience will serve you well. I feel like it should be mandatory for folks to have some time on dirt before they hit the streets - you learn valuable experience in bike control on the dirt that is much harder to come by on the street, and at a much higher price. I rode MX bikes for years before I took to the pavement and it saved my butt more than once - especially on the higher powered street bikes that can get you into trouble so fast!

As others have said, be careful out there with all the knuckle heads. I gave up my 2-wheeled fun 5 years ago when my son was born. It was getting sketchy out there- you just gotta be on your toes for everybody to do the absolute craziest stuff imaginable.