I'm a proponent of the MSF course. They teach you some very basic, useful, and important things about riding a bike, safely. Plus, you get to ride their little bikes and you can test out for your endorsement at the end of the class, how convenient.

My first experience on a motorcycle (Vulcan 1500) had me at a T intersection in a residential area. As I pulled away from the stop sign, I rode across the street into the neighbors yard, as they were coming outside. I regained control and crossed back to where I was supposed to be and went about the rest of my short ride asking my self WTF am I doing? and trying not to look in my rear view mirror to see the laughter from those who saw what just happened. Anyways, that scenario could have been avoided had I known some of the simple tips for riding a motor technically the right way.