From 990R to 1290R

by **990RR** » Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:44 am

Hi guys.
4 years has past since i sold my 990R
Had couple of cool bikes since that.
But something had me on the new 1290 after i rode my buddys.

Good to be back

by **Scotty** » Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:07 am

Welcome back to the brotherhood

by **Black Out** » Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:00 pm

All great bikes.

by **twinrider32** » Thu Jun 14, 2018 6:00 pm

Im doing the same 990R 2008 - a modded TL1000 S/R Hybrid in between - test rode Tuono and SDR1290 and as good a bike as the Tuono is im on the lookout for a 1290

by **Sarasota_Steve** » Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:43 pm

I've got a bit of a story to tell you.

When I was a 13 or 14 y/o young lad, back in Ireland, I realised my wiener was for more than peeing. Man I could not leave that thing alone! Morning before class, afternoon when I came back from school, night before going to bed. Damn I used to spank my monkey. It felt great so why not do it?
Most of my friends were 1 or 2 years older. At that age, 2 years is a lot. They used to tell me that they had hooked up with girls and were having sex. I had a buddy of mine that asked me to smell his fingers after a night of passion with his girlfriend and I thought to myself - I don't have a car, I don't have money, I can't ask a girl out because I can't take her anywhere - So life went on, making my socks stiff nightly until one day, I picked up a girl, one thing lead to another and after a few dates: SEX. Holy shit that was so much better than Wanking! DAMN!. There were titties, and ass, and tongue, and sucking this and that. THAT IS AWESOME! I thought.

Welcome to the 2018 SDR1290.

Yes, a 990 and a 990R are great bikes. They accelerate, they brake, they turn. They have LOTS of soul!. But you know when you go from Wanking to sex?. From having to get up to change the TV channels to having a remote control? Or when you had to crank down your car's window to having electric windows? You get the idea. This is similar.

I rode approximately 80 miles today, I left my house at 8 and it was 80F and when I returned at 10 it was already 89F

I love the up/down quickshifter.
the mirrors DO NOT vibrate
I'm only able to rev up to 6500prm until 600 miles or so.
gear indicator in the TFT display.
yeah, riding modes, ABS, TC, slipper clutch they call it (MSR - Motor Slip Regulation), self canceling turn signals they call (ATIR - Automatic Turn Indicator Reset)
It has a USB port for charging below the seat.
It has 2 different ACC1 and ACC2 ports (One set below the seat and one inside the nose mask)
You can set up the MY RIDE and connect your phone and headset, so if you are doing navigation, the screen becomes a map and it can give you turn by turn directions.
And that engine. Holy mother of god. Pulls clean from 3k, like I've read here before 6th is pretty much useless unless you're going really fast and want to save fuel.
Computer trip with speed averages, fuel consumption, cruise control, tyre Pressures on your dashboard! Keyless engine start. keyless fuel cap and steering lock.
KTM has gone above and beyond with this one.

I am SO guilty of having given 1290 owners a hard time. I was a the dealership yesterday about to sign paperwork thinking I was going to catch shit from you guys.

After only 80 miles, I'm highly impressed. I hope the bike keeps impressing me for years to come.

by **fatbob** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 2:14 pm

Judas

by **No more twin** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 5:46 pm

Like me, you'll probably be coming to this forum a lot less often now. There's real hostility by those old geezers on their 990s that are set in their ways and piss on anything that is outside their experience and skill level. Some time ago, I made the ungodly suggestion that perhaps this forum's home page could show a photo of a modern iteration of the Superduke. Sacrilege!

by **SpeedyR** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 2:57 am

Sarasota_Steve wrote:
I rode approximately 80 miles today, I left my house at 8 and it was 80F and when I returned at 10 it was already 89F

I am SO guilty of having given 1290 owners a hard time. I was a the dealership yesterday about to sign paperwork thinking I was going to catch shit from you guys.

After only 80 miles, I'm highly impressed. I hope the bike keeps impressing me for years to come.

glad to hear you picked up a later model. I've been up around Suches a couple of times the past few weeks. New pavement on 60, and most of the gravel is gone from the storms. We'll catch up soon, and get some riding in...

by **bic_bicknell** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 5:34 pm

Sarasota Steve. Radical analogy expressing your transformation to the 1290 but I appreciate the effort! ha ha. I too was impressed with the 1290 when Intest rode it. Just cant justify the price to get ownership and I love my 990 too much still.

No More Twins. Mate, I don't think there is 'hostility' towards the 1290 owners here, maybe a bit of good natured banter that maybe also has a bit of underlying envy but that is all. What was pretty irritating many of the 'old timers' was just the lack of any good contribution from the new Superdukers for a long time. All they seemed to be interested in was what KTM accessories they were buying into. It seemed like there was just a different mind set to these new 1290 owners compared to the 990 ones. Less mechanically minded and into doing mods and sharing good info and more into rim tape.

by **Sarasota_Steve** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:34 pm

No more twin wrote:Like me, you'll probably be coming to this forum a lot less often now. There's real hostility by those old geezers on their 990s that are set in their ways and piss on anything that is outside their experience and skill level. Some time ago, I made the ungodly suggestion that perhaps this forum's home page could show a photo of a modern iteration of the Superduke. Sacrilege!

I'm still checking several times a day. I don't think I'm alone on this one. My friends and I are constantly giving each other shit. It's fun, It's funny and at the end of day I know I can count on them. I like the banter that's generated in this forum every once in a while. Like Bic said, it gets boring when 1290 owners contribute nothing and the only questions asked are: What tyres should I use? or Look at the stickers I just put on the bike .... Booooring!

The 990 has been discussed to death and being an older bike, most if not all problems have been sorted.

When I 'graduated' to moderator here, I asked the same question about the front page of the website and the reply was the picture is an homage to the old SuperDuke. Ok, I can see that. No issue.

There have been a few interesting 1290 topics. Remember when abc built a bunch of carbon fiber parts for his 2014? There were a couple of members working on cracking the ECU to re-tune the 1290. Remember all the talk about the wobbly rear hub on the 2014? Those are interesting topics to discuss (to me).
Anyway, I hope you keep coming back. With a bit of a sense of humor, it's a fun place to read.

by **Sarasota_Steve** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:39 pm

bic_bicknell wrote:Sarasota Steve. Radical analogy expressing your transformation to the 1290 but I appreciate the effort! ha ha. I too was impressed with the 1290 when Intest rode it. Just cant justify the price to get ownership and I love my 990 too much still.

No More Twins. Mate, I don't think there is 'hostility' towards the 1290 owners here, maybe a bit of good natured banter that maybe also has a bit of underlying envy but that is all. What was pretty irritating many of the 'old timers' was just the lack of any good contribution from the new Superdukers for a long time. All they seemed to be interested in was what KTM accessories they were buying into. It seemed like there was just a different mind set to these new 1290 owners compared to the 990 ones. Less mechanically minded and into doing mods and sharing good info and more into rim tape.

Bic,

When I was in London, having a beer or three with No47 and talking about potentially getting a 1290, he told me: "Why?, You won't be able to tinker in the garage."
True. But I want to tinker when and if I want to tinker. Not feeling it having to fix items so often. As minimal as they might be sometimes, I want to have a more reliable, and a hell of a lot more powerful, bike at this time.

by **Black Out** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 8:42 pm

I only resent you telling me I am Wanking off riding my 990. :mrgreen:

I have no hostility toward the 1290 but I'm also new to KTM (last October).

by **bic_bicknell** » Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:31 pm

There's nothing wrong with a good wank!

by **Twist** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 2:34 pm

Black Out wrote:I only resent you telling me I am Wanking off riding my 990.
I have no hostility toward the 1290 but I'm also new to KTM (last October).

Very funny analogy but I think it's more like when you've been having sex with an average comfortable partner (pretty darn good) and then all of a sudden you find yourself having gymnastic romps with a yoga instructor super model that's upping your game. In other words, mind blowing.

I get it that there's a different kind of owner that goes spendy on a new SDR but geez, it's not like it's a new Monster R spendy. That's just stupid money. Kind of like the stupid money that gets spent on CF bits instead of rider training and performance. But hey, it's all good and fun and whatever floats your boat and back to the analogy - if you're getting a woody then it's all good.

by **Black Out** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:33 pm

Or the fat guys who instead of losing a few lbs decide to spent all kinds of money to shave ounces off their bikes.

by **scamb66** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 11:40 am

As I am in a committed long term relationship I find myself going backwards and enjoying a good wank when the opportunity arises.
My bikes tend to be doing the same and going backwards whilst still going forwards.
I took the SDR out for a much need ride today and fook me it was a hoot. I have been getting a fair bit of saddle time in the SA the SDR has sat a little neglected. The extra KG's and 30HP less is fairly noticeable but the engine on the SA is still sweet.
Not riding the SDR was like not rooting you super model girlfriend because you dont want to wear her out for the next bloke.
Right were's pornhub.com, the missus has gone to bed.

by **Scotty** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:08 pm

Like Steve I’ve crossed the divide, collecting a new 2018 1290 yesterday (I haven’t yet sold my 990 road bike and still have a 990 track bike so I haven’t left the 990 fold entirely).

I’ve done 220-odd miles since collecting it yesterday and have to echo pretty much everything that Steve said about his new toy (without resorting to an analogy about teenage Wanking). Aside from the electronic toys (and spending ages trying to get the display to show me what I want to see - hopefully I’ll get the hang of it at some stage) the bike as a whole needs some praise. It looks the biz (I chose a white one) and it’s amazing to ride, agile and responsive to turn into corners, and really planted - I thought the 990 was good but this is like 990+ which is pretty much exactly what it is; the 990 dna has evolved into this bigger and more ferocious beast that carves great lines and dismisses traffic with contemptuous ease. I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like once the first service is out of the way and it can be used as intended.

I know that I’ve already taken a big depreciation hit on it, but I wanted to be the first owner of a bike I see as a keeper, in years to come the depreciation will be irrelevant and once the warranty is over I can start to add a few more goodies to those I selected from the PowerParts list (Ti Akrapovic silencer, seat, tail tidy, track pack (to over ride the anti-wheelie) and alarm/immobiliser (mandated by my insurance company)) - probably an airbox and associated breathing tweaks and a full Akrapovic system will be the first upgrades...

I’m totally made up with it, top bike

by **Sarasota_Steve** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:32 pm

Scotty,
Congratulations man.
I also bought the white/gray/orange bike (the faster color).
I’ll have the bike serviced next weekend (14/7) and be able to open it up proper through the gears. Can’t wait.
Enjoy!

by **Scotty** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 8:19 am

Cheers Steve, I am enjoying it, rode it into work this morning, getting that first service mileage racked up. It hoisted a nice 3rd gear wheelie over a crest on the way in, one where the 990 could never really lift it properly (and all keeping below 6.5k rpm so the tacho didn't go all red and angry on me hehehe). :lol:

The Quickshifter is cool, though I'm not using it much on downshifts - call it mechanical sympathy maybe, but thinking about it, a downshift will be no more onerous than a full-throttle upshift so maybe I will start to use it more. Even when blipping the throttle a regular downshift is a bit stiff, but hopefully that will loosen off a little as the components bed in fully

You can't beat having a bike that gives you wood when you open up the garage door

by **SuperDoopa** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 7:49 pm

Just to confirm that the Black ones are faster than the Halfords White / grey / orange ones :wink:

Sometimes I think I don't need all that power, and other times I think I couldn't be with out it :mrgreen:

by **Scotty** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:24 am

Black ones faster? Whatever.... :wink:

A couple of other thoughts on the 1290 while I'm here; it's more economical than the 990, I filled up while out on Sunday - 15.73 litres after 170 miles and the fuel level warning had pinged on a couple of miles previously. No way could the 990 have managed that distance on a tank, the light pinging on after around 120 miles normally - it returned just over 49mpg (UK gallon; 4.56 litres), I never managed to crack 40 on the 990. OK, I'm running it in (308 miles now), but I'm not trundling around in high gears, in fact riding fairly normally aside from not exceeding 6500rpm - the beauty of a super grunty V-twin, don't need to thrash it to make progress

It also runs cooler in traffic than my 990 did, that got very hot, very quickly, though in fairness it might have needed a coolant burping, my track 990 doesn't get that hot when sitting in pit lane. The 1290's fans did come on two days ago while sitting in traffic in near 30°C temperatures, but the temp gauge wasn't right up to the limit and flashing red at me.

Right, maybe I'd better let someone else contribute a bit to this thread now...

by **scamb66** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:54 pm

My 990 definitely hated sitting in traffic i hot weather, the 1290 seems to be happy even in 40+ degrees.
After having a 06 990 with a 15lt tank that needed a refuel at 150km, the 1290 was a refreshing change.
The 1290 does everything better than the 990 and is a far more civilised bike to tonk around town in, the 990 is an average commuter at best.
The 990 was probably a bit edgier/rawer in a lot of ways, which added to the fun, I even found it a better bike to mono.
But in the end its a bit like a old girlfriend, fun times but would you really go back?

by **Sarasota_Steve** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:57 pm

scamb66 wrote:But in the end its a bit like a old girlfriend, fun times but would you really go back?

Oh oh, them is fightin’ words son. ;P

by **battleshaft** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:13 am

Scotty wrote:Black ones faster? Whatever....

A couple of other thoughts on the 1290 while I'm here; it's more economical than the 990, I filled up while out on Sunday - 15.73 litres after 170 miles and the fuel level warning had pinged on a couple of miles previously. No way could the 990 have managed that distance on a tank, the light pinging on after around 120 miles normally - it returned just over 49mpg (UK gallon; 4.56 litres), I never managed to crack 40 on the 990. OK, I'm running it in (308 miles now), but I'm not trundling around in high gears, in fact riding fairly normally aside from not exceeding 6500rpm - the beauty of a super grunty V-twin, don't need to thrash it to make progress

It also runs cooler in traffic than my 990 did, that got very hot, very quickly, though in fairness it might have needed a coolant burping, my track 990 doesn't get that hot when sitting in pit lane. The 1290's fans did come on two days ago while sitting in traffic in near 30°C temperatures, but the temp gauge wasn't right up to the limit and flashing red at me.

Right, maybe I'd better let someone else contribute a bit to this thread now...

I need to have a go on one of these 1290's...see what all the fuss is about.

by **SuperDoopa** » Sat Jul 14, 2018 9:04 am

Scotty wrote:Black ones faster? Whatever....

A couple of other thoughts on the 1290 while I'm here; it's more economical than the 990, I filled up while out on Sunday - 15.73 litres after 170 miles and the fuel level warning had pinged on a couple of miles previously. No way could the 990 have managed that distance on a tank, the light pinging on after around 120 miles normally - it returned just over 49mpg (UK gallon; 4.56 litres), I never managed to crack 40 on the 990. OK, I'm running it in (308 miles now), but I'm not trundling around in high gears, in fact riding fairly normally aside from not exceeding 6500rpm - the beauty of a super grunty V-twin, don't need to thrash it to make progress

It also runs cooler in traffic than my 990 did, that got very hot, very quickly, though in fairness it might have needed a coolant burping, my track 990 doesn't get that hot when sitting in pit lane. The 1290's fans did come on two days ago while sitting in traffic in near 30°C temperatures, but the temp gauge wasn't right up to the limit and flashing red at me.

Right, maybe I'd better let someone else contribute a bit to this thread now...

I can confirm the fuel economy pisses over the 990, and the 2017 model onwards ( which I own) does 10% better. Having owned 2 990's over 8 years, both enjoyed glugging oil whereas my 1290 doesn't. And it's been fecking hot lately and the bike has remained cool with no fans kicking in at all.