The F4i makes a great beginner bike. It's the most forgiving and easiest to ride of the 600's from that generation. The newest generation of 600's are more track/race oriented and make too much power & too low of gearing out of the box for a beginner.
A 1000cc machine just makes speed too quickly, and it's too touchy in the slower gears. You really have ot know how to handle a motorcyle before messing with them. I just sold mine, and I wasn't ready until over 20,000 miles on the street and 2000 miles on the reacetrack.