Hi Andy and welcome.
You should be able to search for the Lakeland meet and PM Gas Up Lets Go if you want to come to the Lakes and see us. You will not find a bigger gathering of the XT range of bikes anywhere else in the UK!
...........as for Kiethblade
, just ignore him, he's got one of the inferior Red Z'eds!
As I've mentioned before you are more than welcome to come over and meet up with us and have a go on my bike, have a looksee what others have done to their bikes as well.
Happy hunting on the site, you will find no better way to find out about the 'quirks' of these bikes.
Cheers SteveD