What's the typical Monster upgrade path?

I'm a newbie and am planning to purchase my first bike. Should I:

a) buy a used Japanese bike such as a Honda CB400 Super 4 and learn on it

or

b) buy a used Monster 600 and learn on it

How long does it usually take to get a good grasp of riding? How long before I'll want to upgrade to a bigger bike?

I'm guessing one might start with an M600, move on to a M900 and eventually upgrade to an S2 or S4. Typically, how long do people stick to a model before they move on to the next one? I'm sure each person is different, but perhaps you can share your upgrade paths to help me understand how it works.

my cousin learned to ride on his monster 600, he later moved to a 748S. another friend of mine bought a monster 900 as his first bike to learn on and he still has the bike till now. i on the other hand learned on a kawasaki KX80 dirt bike to later move on to a harley davidson sportster 883, a ducati monster 600 (that my cousin previously owned) and a ducati 748R. But quite honestly, you won't really outgrow the monster 6. It's well and good comfortable, practical and powerful enough to use as a daily ride and the occasional out of town stint. Though i did upgrade from it, I still have the monster 6 to use for long trips.

thanks for the advice miggy. i'll most likely go for an M600 as you suggested.

Just joined today and read your query.

I started riding the company's Suzuki X120 for a few months, then bought my own Sinski 250. I rode that for about a year, but I outgrew the bike long before then. I would scrape the crash guards when cornering and the engine was lacking in power.

I bought my M620 last year and I'm still learning to master it. The bike is great! Fun and practical. The bars could use a lift for long rides, but otherwise an awesome ride. I made the mistake of taking it off road. My enthusiasm got the better of my skills and judgement and I took a downhill right too fast. I dropped the bike to avoid going over a cliff. It came out with minor cosmetic damage; bent handlebars, broken front signal cover, scratches and very small dents on the muffler. What a rush!

Depending on your level of skill and how often you ride, it'll be a long time before you outgrow the M600. I think it'sa keeper. You can always get bigger bikes, but you'll always come back to the monster.