Ever since my V-Strom days, I've used Permatex anti-seize on the axles. I've ridden a lot in the rain, and never had any issues being able to pull the axle out by hand.
Fred: I know the "old eyes" feeling. If you're having trouble seeing if the caliper is lined up correctly with the boss on the sensor plate, just put a dab of white out on the boss and the outside of the little "V" shape on the caliper. It'll make it easier to see.
When I changed my tires last week, I tried something new. The idea came from this thread. One of the issues I always encounter on the rear tire is when the hub cover comes loose when you're trying to remove the wheel, and the cush bumpers get loose and jam everything up. This time, I bought some wood shims from the hardware store. I took four of them, lined them up side by side, and glued them to a 1/4" plywood backing plate. I made two of these plates. I then slid the plates under the rear tire and snugged them up so they supported it. I then pulled the rear axle all the way out, removed the caliper, and slid it back in through the wheel. The wedges kept the rear tire supported so the hub cover didn't start pulling away from the hub while the axle was removed. Once the axle was back in, you have a lot of clearance to shift the whole tire to the right, and with the axle supporting the whole wheel, the wheel and hub slide right out of the final drive as a unit, with no separation. Then you just pull the whole axle out, and the tire and hub just come off as a whole unit, with no fuss.
When I put the wheel back on, I reversed the procedure. I threaded the axle through the wheel into the final drive, without installing the caliper. That made it really easy to line the splines on the hub up with the final drive, without trying to hold the wheel up with brute force while trying to line everything up. Once the hub and final drive were mated, I put the shims under the tire to hold everything in place, pulled the axle out, installed the caliper, and reinstalled the axle. It worked like a charm, and though it added a couple steps to the process, it ended up saving me time and, more importantly, aggravation.