congrats! first things first, if you are traveling in the second half of august, pm me and ill leave you my contact info just in case you need help. i am based in Milano. First half of august i cant help cause probly be in montengro/albania with my recently purchased DR350 (just dont tell anybody round here in Yamaha Tech  )
some answers:
1. are you sure you need one? maybe try riding it a bit first, rpm in these is quite "self explanatory" 
2. need to? dont know, but i did put in there a DIY brace, was easy to do. pm me your email and ill send a pic
5. with the rather soft supsension of an XT, a bike that sits too upright might tip to the other side with some luggage on, so consider that. if PO was not that mindful, stand can get bent/hinge wear out. not that hard to rectify or even make stand length adjustable to varying load conditions.
7.there should be a flap that protects the shock's bottom link bearing area from dust and debris, quite important to have it IMHO
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