My advise: Take the course using their bike. Here is why: It will massively reduce the likelyhood that you will drop your bike. They will make you do stuff that you simply wouldn't practice otherwise(locking the rear tire, for instance). They'll make sure you know how to countersteer and use both brakes.. Simple stuff like that.

You get a really small bike(250, 125) that you can mess around with on the course.. Use it to your advantage, try some stuff.. If you drop it then it isn't your bike anyway. Taking risks with your shiney new bike can result in some nice scratches.

The permit is a matter of taking a written test, I think it lasts about 3 months, and you can get it renewed 3 times by going in and saying give me another permit. Most cops will miss the exparation date on the permit, and most have no clue you can't have a passenger... If they do they probably have a motorcycle themselves and are pretty easy going.

If you wanna practice with your bike have someone drive it to a big open parking lot where there is nothing to run into, and you can practice wide sweeping turns without having to stop(etc.)

Just my 0.02$.