The most definitive sign of a low mileage bike is the tyres, especially if it comes with something uncommon in our market out of the factory. My 400 for example had the stock Dunlop Sportmax on it, which is not available in the Malaysian market last I checked, so it was really easy to tell that it really is a low condition bike.

I also noticed that bikes in KL / urban Selangor tend to have higher average mileage than Penang and Johor (albeit less so). So if you are getting something from Pahang for example, I would believe the mileage is probably genuine.

I have lived a year plus without one, using only a portable side stand.

It's good enough for chain maintenance, only catch is that you have to make sure the surface you work with have enough friction so it doesn't slide.

However, it's more due to circumstances than choice, since I move around a lot and don't have space to store a paddock stand... not to mention a good paddock stand is really expensive.