I read an interesting article on tyre wear: http://www.rattlebars.com/tirewear/index.html it goes on to suggest that engine braking should be avoided at all costs, as brake pads are cheaper than drive train parts & tyres will wear much faster.... Now: I learnt to drive in a 1972 Mini 850 with no brakes to speak of, so have engine braking ingrained in me! Any thoughts on the X about this??
Also: I read another article on revving bike engines so they're always in the power band. I looked up the XT torque curve: max power/torque seems to be around 5000 or so RPM. I have a Koso digital rev counter, but this seems like I'm always thrashing the X. Any comments??