Does he already have a license? Just wondering.
The thing is all the dealers around here, if not across the country, someone is bound to have something bad to say about it. Just saying. I would suggest go to dealer in person look at the bikes and talk to the guys there, if he got a bad vibe about it then just leave and find another dealer.
If he plans to look for a bike on CL, do try to find someone that is some what familiar with street bikes to help him. Mechanically incline or not, he is bound to have to do some maintenance on the bike himself; I would suggest a FI bike for peace of mind.
2 cents.