mercurial,
No, these are not our "first" bikes. I've been riding for about 10 years--I learned on a Honda F2, and I just traded my 929 in for my R1. Michelle is relatively new to riding--this is her second bike, but she has time on several other sportbikes. Don't get us wrong--Michelle (and me) both want to get back to riding. As for cheaper and slower bikes--we've had that, and there is no way that either of us would get back on something lesser than this new R1.
Now, dude, if your girlfriend/wife/spouse/signifcant other just layed down a bike in front of you, would you be thrilled for her to jump back on? No, you wouldn't (if you cared), and therefore it isn't fair to her for you to continue riding.:machinegu