I started out pretty typical, I suppose, with a '78 KZ440 that handed the front range traffic of the 90s just fine. Then came the GS550L that I absolutely beat to death, including 12+ hour days at full throttle crossing the country via the interstate, and it still wouldn't stop. The Anvil I called it, hammer on that bike all day long. But those long days at the limit made me realize I needed something bigger.
Many years later here I am, wishing I had the Anvil back. So I look around for anything 'small' from the 70s or early 80s that is not a pristine classic, absolute junkpile, cut up, no title, or outrageously priced and I come up more or less dry for about 5 years of casual inquiry. Everyone's telling me if I want a small bike just get a used Ninja, they're all over and cheap. And I hate everything about them.
Then I find a brand new bike that fits the bill called the Classic. I think it took all of about 15 minutes on the RE website before I knew what chassis, what color, and what my first half dozen or so mods were going to be.
Once I rode one I knew that it was the Anvil's little (and younger) brother, only with more grunt so it's even easier to ride.
Meanwhile my wife is a beginner and wants to graduate from the Vespa 150. Took her into the RE dealership while I was waiting 5 months for the exact bike I wanted to come in and then she sat on a Meteor. A Fireball in red was just about a done deal by the time she got off of it.