So if someone who has never ridden a motorcycle before wants to now, how do they go about it? Do you buy a cheap bike first, learn to ride it, then take the test?
Also, what's a good brand/bike to start with?
(Just wondering, I don't plan on buying one anytime soon but something to think about for the future)
Yes, take the course first. Any class worth taking will supply you the motorcycle. Think of it this way, if you have never ridden a bike (not that hard at all, its the outside world/streets that is the hard part), why take the chance and drop your bike when you can use a class bike. Believe it or not, the sport type bikes or touring bike are much easier to learn on, they keep your center of gravity perfectly over the center of the bike, they are much easier to ride to do your figure eights and circles (classes and licence test type of maneuvers)... A 'cruiser' bike is not a good 1st bike, they put you to far on the back side of center, don't get me more they are great bikes, just not a good 1st bike.
So with that said... Get a Touring bike. Who to go with? For a good (great bike), I would go with a Honda Touring bike, a Honda CTX 700 comes to mind, looks the part of a fast bike, but the HP and bike are very forgiving. STAY AWAY from the sport/super-sport bikes 'for now'.