Hey r/motorcycles, after a lifetime of dreaming I have finally signed up for a motorcycle rider's class and plan to purchase a beginner bike in the new year. However, there are three remaining hurdles on which I would welcome your input.

1. I have an interest in learning how to maintain my own bike, but don't have a ton of mechanical experience. Although I'm aware that YouTube has tons of tutorials for basic things like oil changes, spark plugs and so on (including the resources in this subreddit's FAQs), I would be worried about fucking something up by just following steps without knowing what/why I'm doing things. This is even more the case when it comes to more subtle skills like tuning. How might I find a mentor to help me build these skills?

2. My mom is not going to be pleased at all to learn that I am taking this step – she lost a cousin to a motorcycle accident in her youth, and my dad had some very close calls before he finally sold his bike in the 70's. I'm 26 with a perfect driving record, so I'm not going to let her matronly fear stop me from pursuing a long-held interest. At the same time, I want to arm myself with as much information / rhetorical points as possible to tamp down her concerns – because I love her and don't want her to worry more than she rationally needs to (I know, that's a lot to ask). For example, I will commit to always riding stone cold sober, wearing AGATT, starting with a smaller bike w/ ABS, etc.. I also don't plan to ride at night, on the highway, or with a passenger until I have a few thousand miles of experience. I will be riding in CA, where drivers are very used to seeing motorcycles on the road and accident rates have been declining for years. What other statistics, best practices, or arguments can I point to to reduce her anxiety?

Many thanks for the help! Apologies if any of these points have been addressed in previous thread – I did search before posting but didn't find any threads that substantively addressed these questions.