Definitely take the Rider Education class. Depending on where you live, these classes fill up early so it may take a little while to get into a class. As for helmets and gear, expensive doesnt always equal safer. All DOT/Snell rated helmets meet the same safety requirements, more money does usually get you more comfort and toys. As for gear, buy what you can afford, all leather gloves protect more but cheaper leather/mesh gloves are better than no gloves. Where are you located? Motorcycle shops will hate me for saying this but I always try on gear locally to get the right size and then go shopping online. You can save alot of $$$ online. www.motorcyclecloseouts.com, www.newenough.com, www.motorcyclesuperstore.com, www.bikebandit.com, and www.kneedraggers.com are good places to look for cheap gear. Back to helmets, in my personal opinion Scorpion helmets are the best for the price, many features found in expensive helmets for half the price. Hope this helps.