I hadn't ridden a bike for quite a few years when I decided to get the 'bird.
Did just what the advice on here is, get a session booked with an instructor to check/brush up on skill levels.
Problem was the session was cancelled and rebooked twice so ended up actually being on the day I collected the bike from the dealer!
In the event that worked out fine. Went out on one of their 500s first. He followed on the 'bird. We went to their off road practice area and I ran through various handling drills on the 500.
Then some road work, then back to the off road site when I took over the bird and we went through the same drills again.
He commented that the' bird was actually easy to ride and a "pussycat". He was expecting it to be a handful.
We returned to the dealer and he Swapped from the 500 to his FJR.
The remainder of the session was a run out with him giving an assessment and advice to me and ended up with a "go on then, let's see what the' bird will do".
Next words I heard in my ear was "some pussycat! Wait for me".
With hindsight that all actually worked out better for me as I got some quality advice while actually riding the 'bird for the first time.
I'd already decided that if the verdict was I needed more work to be safe I'd get the dealer to deliver and I'd take more lessons.
In the event that wasn't needed.
And now 78,000 miles later