Feedback on a couple items you mentioned –
1. Security due to DR-Z being light – Recently in a local motorcycle forum someone posted that she chained her GSX-R600 to another bike, with both bikes wedged in front of her car in the car port of her apartment complex. Both bikes disappeared in the middle of the night without anyone noticing anything. She didn’t think the chain was cut. There were many feedback from other riders on that forum that bikes in an open and public area need to be chained to something solid, but even then it’s no guarantee. You simply cannot count on the weight of a bike as a security measure.
3. To me, no fuel level indicator (needle or light) is normal, since my first bike, a GS500, has neither. That never bothered me – just use the trip distance to determine when you need to gas up. In fact, I find the blinking yellow low-fuel indicator light on the SV650 very, very distracting and annoying.
4. I really wanted to have a windscreen for my GS500 for the winter. I ordered a Givi 603 over two months ago, and it’s only due to arrive tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ve gotten used to, and like, riding without wind protection, I began to wonder why I ordered a windscreen in the first place. At 50 mph or even 60 mph, I certainly don’t feel the wind blast was significant. On a calm day, I can ride at 80-85 mph without feeling it’s too much wind blast, but add some headwind, then I start wishing for a little wind protection. Is the wind blast on a DR-Z worse than a typical naked bike because it’s higher and more upright?
One question I have regarding DRZ400sm’s cornering – a lot of people seem to say a motard with sticky tires corners just as well, or better, than a sportbike. Convention wisdom says your CG needs to be low to corner well, so how is it a “tall” bike like a DRZ, even in sm trim, can corner well like a sportbike? What’s your thought and experience on this, eternal?