A serious concern of riders of all kind deals with the safety of their rides. Not just in terms of crashing--but in terms of theft, vandalism, or other manhandling. Protecting against theft can help you protect against the other issues.
One morning on a weekend not too long ago, we went out and grabbed some breakfast. The bikes were parked at the house. The Duke ALWAYS has its brake disc lock on with a highly visible cord draped from clutch lever to rear brake. It screams "don't play with me." The Ninja has a malfunctioning brake disc lock that had been taken off temporarily (it started doing weird alarm shrieking anytime it was locked, on or off the bike). For that morning I opted to keep the lock off.
When we returned maybe a half-hour later, I saw something bad. Ass-prints! Fresh on my seat. They stand out extremely well on a black, dusty seat. And there it was... someone sat on my bike. The cleft cheeky smudges did not lie. I couldn't believe it.
Nothing was wrong with my bike, it wasn't dropped, it wasn't gouged up... but I still felt a little defiled. Who DOES that? Nobody goes up to a car and just sprawls out on the hood, and they don't invite themselves into a convertible with the roof down. But that's what happens with a motorcycle. And quite often they'll get a little too vigorous and might tip the bike.
The Duke--which is by all accounts a much nicer, newer, and more exciting piece of machinery--was untouched. The bright cord does seem to deter people. It's worth considering, if only to prevent ass-prints. Cables across the seat keeps people off the seat, or at least more reluctant to start grabbing at your bike. My lock and cable cost about $100 CAD together, and a slightly nicer Xena lock and cable will run you $120 CAD or so.
On the nice side of things, some neighbor kids plucked flowers and put them on our gas tanks last summer. It was kind of sweet of them. Weird, but sweet.
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