learn to ride

[ab]

Don't do it.  Are you nuts?  Tell him to get his own bike first and then you will teach him.  Or even better what the others mentioned, take the MSF course.

I lent my bike a few times and I still cringe when I think about what possessed me to do that.

[elephantrider70]

the msf course seems like the way to go!
thanks for all the replies

[peanut_man]

my friend keeps buggin me to teach him how to ride ! [moto]
should i teach him on my monster?

NO!

Send him to MSF!

[redxblack]

The best thing about the MSF (other than it can save your life and the instructors know what they're doing) is that you can drop the bikes pain-free. It's almost expected, which then takes off the pressure and you can concentrate on learning to ride instead of panicking about not dropping your friend's irreplaceable monster.

No one dropped a bike in my MSF class, but almost all of them had tank dings and assorted character marks.

[TightLines]

Is he asking you to teach him to ride or understand how to operate a bike?

If he's a good friend take him to an empty parking lot and show him the ropes, clutch, brakes, shifting, etc.  This is what a good friend did for me and i knew after those couple of hours that I'd own a bike soon enough.

Now if he becomes interested in riding send him to the MSF.

I would never give a friend the cold response of simply taking the MSF, take him out and let him get a feel for things on your ride. 
 [moto]

[yotogi]

MSF +11tyb

If he is serious about starting riding, he will want to take the class anyway. If not, he really won't miss out on much not trying not to wreck your bike, which is what you hope he is focusing on if you let him ride yours.