KTM SMT I owned for 5 years, excellent on UK roads but tractor of an engine and gearbox off a rotovator and ugly to boot. Looked at another KTM but sorry the basic angular design of the road & "adventure" bikes is looking dated irrespective of the model.
IMO the 1290 super adventure S looks awesome, especially in black with the black akrapovic can. I'm test riding one next weekend, I would agree that T vairiant looks angular and I don't like the GT.
That looks pretty damn good and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps it's because I owned the SMT for so long that I got bored of the design styling that has been carried over, even into the 1299 super adventure, no doubt a brilliant bike though.
I went for the white/orange one. The looks will always be subjective and I'm fine with that. I've ordered a black Arrow can. Looks the biz, sounds good and at £400 is a fair bit cheaper than the Akra. Enjoy the demo ride! Hopefully it'll have the optional quickshifter fitted - which is superb!
I was looking at the KTM 1290 but a bit rich, looks awesome. i gave myself a budget of 10k thats how i ended up with the DVT . Enjoy
I think the black stealth-bomber 1290SAS looks fab. Then again the white and orange is pretty damn good too. Tricky decision if I was buying. Black shows the dirt though. KTM styling is at its best when its bold. They held back too much with my ginger 1190 Adv and it looks a bit staid. Having said that, the longer I've had it the more its grown on me. But whatever its style faults all is forgiven when I ride it.
I was keen on the KTM 1290R as well after totaled my multi DVT. After digging KTM forum for few weeks, I think ktm quality is worse than Ducati. There is quite a number of issues on the new 1290. Fuel pump, key fob, wobbling at high speed just to name a few. My friend's 1290s died twice just after 300km. First was the ECU board and fuel pump second time was the wiring harness shorted. He is hiring lawyer to sue KTM for full refund now. Anyway, good luck on your new ride ! Ride safe
I have lusted after KTMs for some time now. I've owned about half a dozen Ducs, a couple of Aprilias, Triumphs, and BWMs. But never the orange crush - which is odd since orange is my favorite color and I'm usually wearing it.There was an SDR up at a local haunt the other day that was just sick. But I remember test riding an 1190 a couple years ago when I ended up buying a Triumph XRx instead. The 1190 just felt kinda unfinished and crude. The forums certainly give me pause and seemingly is summed up best by one signature I saw - "KTM - 95% brilliant engineering, 5% WTF?!?" That said I still want an SDR or GT
The 1290 SAS is the 1st KTM I've ridden and I have to say it's bloody good so far. I've only done 800 miles so far, but my own personal experience is that's it a well sorted bike with great features, and well screwed together. I've planned a 300 mile ride-out on Monday, so let's see after that! I had a brief look at the KTM forums before I bought mine. I genuinely thought they're nowhere near the quality of this forum, and decided to avoid going anywhere them again -so I can base my thoughts from my own experiences of my bike - and not get panicked by others. KTM and Ducati have both made considerable changes in their product lines and have been selling much higher volumes of new lines - so it's not a surprise if quality dips at key points. Talking of this 5% WTF though, one weird things they do is put customer ancillary cables (for sat nav, etc) behind the main light. As an adventure bike owner there's a high chance I'm gonna want to fit a sat nav, and had to remove the head light assembly to get to the cables! Come to think of it, I do remember uttering the WTF words under my breath as I'm dismantling half the bike just to fit a sat nav! The owner's manual is comprehensive though, and includes guides on removing fairings, etc.
Yep reliability is a major issue especially on an adventure bike when touring. I too read about the wobble at speed and this does surprise and concern me since they make a point about floating luggage fitting helping with high speed wobble. Some put it down to wheels/tyres and others the hand guards. Either way it's a concern. Anyway what did you get after totalling your dvt , since you were looking at the SA R I guess you looked at the enduro ? This has to be on the list as the r main competitor albeit more expensive.
Regards the wobble, can I ask when you notice this? On the Blackbird being that is is aero dynamic for top speed, it sometimes, not always, delivers a very slight shimmy in certain occasions.It is normally caused when a top box is fitted and the rider takes their hands off the handlebars. The obvious solution is not to take your hands off the bars but you can do this when there is no top box on the bike, that's why I was interested to know if the wobble is all the time or just with the luggage on?
The 1190 is supposed to have high speed stability issues but I've had mine north of 135 mph and its rock solid stable. I tend to take most of these things with a pinch of salt until I've ridden the bike for myself. And one man's crudity is another man's character. A mate with an ageing Aprilia is looking at possible replacements and he had his eye on a Triumph Tiger Sport so we went test riding the other weekend. I went on the 1190 and led a test ride route as I knew the area and he didn't, and he followed on the Triumph. He said he loved the handling and particularly the brakes and it did a better job of keeping up (almost..) with the KTM through the bends but he wouldn't buy the Tiger because it was too smooth. Didn't feel like he had an engine underneath him. He's going to try my 1190 next week and then the Superduke. He'll know that's got an engine..
Yes but I had given enough chance to Ducati. The stalling issue I had came back again after 5 months and to make it worse is the shitty workshop we have here. I rode the enduro for a few days. Love the overall performance and ergonomics but the engine heat is a killer for our humid and hot weather. I'm going to give bimmer a try. Most likely will be GS.
