First bike?

Hi everyone
So I'm having an early mid life crisis and have decided to take my bike license. The question is which bike do I get?
I'm 29 fast approaching 30 6ft tall and weigh around 16stone. I plan on taking my direct access course in August and not sure what to get for my first bike?
I've made a bit of a short list and have whittled it down to the monster and the er6n but would appreciate the opinions of some ducati owners. My list currently consists of;
ducati monster 600, 620, 695, 696
Yamaha er6n

My heart is telling me go for the monster but pretty much everyone I speak to is warning me about the running costs and reliability issues? I do also like the er6n as it's a good sensible choice, looks good and everyone recommends it, but can't help going back to the monster.

Just wondering what your thoughts are in terms of reliability and real world costs of owning a monster? Also I've never rode a motorbike before and was worried a monster may be too much for me as a novice? I do drive and have driven a lot of fast cars but imagine a bike is a completely different experience.

Any suggestions and thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers