Incredible, in this day and age, that anyone - man or woman - would think of starting out on a 1300cc monster. Only in the States!

Just one point to add to Sourdough's sage thoughts: weight (within reason!) is not that critical, most of the time, especially if there's a neat way of flicking the bike onto its stand. What really counts for women (and guys who are on the short side) is seat height. The higher it is, the more you have to lean the bike to get a foot on the deck. The more you lean it, the more weight you're holding up.

Bike stand geometry is fairly well sorted these days, but can be under-developed on the older bikes (Vins excepted of course). That little detail can be a real pain for the less well-built rider.