Alot of people are telling you that you will fall a "couple of times" this isn't necessarily true. Yes lots of people drop the bike a couple of times during low speed maneuvering and thats nothing to be embaressed about really. But saying that you will crash on the street a couple of times while learning is silly. If you crash a couple of times while learning, you probably haven't absorbed what they taught you in the course.

It is quite possible that you won't fall at all while learning. I had never ridden a motorcycle 6 years ago when I took the motorcycle safety course and still haven't gone down yet. BUT I assume that I will fall at some point and as such am always prepared for it. I'll agree with the others and say the most important thing here is to get some decent safety gear. This means gloves, boots that cover your ankles, either a kevlar or leather jacket and a good helemet. Get a real full face helmet. Wearing all this gear is often uncomfortable in the summer, but who cares? Its more comfortable than multiple skin grafts.

When you're looking for new motorcycles start with something small (500cc or less) Spend a year or two on this bike getting comfortable. There are a ton good condition 15+ year old motorcycles that are perfect to learn on.

Anyways, most of this thread has been a bit doom and gloom. Motorcycling is far and away my most enjoyable hobby. I can almost gaurantee you'll fall in love. It is a truly exciting and rewarding pastime. The acceleration, speed, handling and braking of ability of motorcycles is what make them both fun and dangerous. They're far less dangerous than the rest of the world would have you believe though! Take the safety course and have fun!

Neko