Brute,
I'm the other side of the coin. I all most never get rid of the bikes since 2004.
I had an 02 VTX1800, put 40,000 miles on it in 3 years. I owned it for 4 years but I was injured for one of those years. Traded it straight across for a new KLR650.
Go for it, you will love the torque of the VTX1800.
I'll be 55 in a few weeks, same girl friend for 21 years. We don't want to rush into anything. The only bad, she won't ride bikes because of back surgery.
I have a street K5 and I can tell you from experience. NO fun on the street if you plan on keeping your license. I streeted mine to ride on the highway between trail heads. Some of the areas we ride require you to have a tag. The State thought they could keep us out by requiring a tag- WRONG.
I do have the perfect bike to learn on, 1976 KT250.
Low seat height, wont go over 40, turns on a dime and lots of torque.