Tommo , a friend of mine had a similar bike in the suzuki range called Maruader not much different to the VN.
Well he was happy with it for about 5-6 months while he did his L's and P's after that he could'nt stand all the other 250's overtaking him.so he now owns a ZZR250
which maybe you should have a look at and dont spend too much $$$ on your first bike.
good luck
ps
theres a pic of the Maruader below in link I think
ZZR250 is the better bike.