Riding the Townmate Safely

This will sound amateur to a lot of you but I have yet to ride my Townmate or any geared bike.

As I understand it. You start it in neutral, push the gear lever down then throttle off. What would happen if I have it stood still and in gear?

It is going in for its MOT on Weds and just what to be sure of the fundamentals so I do not wreck the bike or myself!

Thanks.

As you say start in neutral then as you throttle up the centrifugal clutch will take up drive, at suitable speed throttle back & select second and open throttle & so on till you get in top. Come down the box in reverse although you can come to a stand in top but of course you need to remember to select first gear again before you pull away again. It will do no harm idling in gear, but it will harm clutch if you pull away in too high a gear. I suggest you find a quite road or better still some private ground to get used to gear changes.