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On a recent trip to New Mexico via Lockhart, Boerne, Ingram, The Twisted Sisters, Del Rio and countless miles along the Mexican Border I learned a lot about my 1290.
For a little background... I bought this 1290 in September 2019 with 5,000 miles on it. Almost immediately it started throwing error codes for my rear shock. I wasn't surprised because I did my research before buying and knew the electronic suspension was a common problem. I bought a 3rd party extended warranty and that cover most of a new shock. I have had ZERO issues since.
Most of the riding I do is 250 - 300 miles on the weekends. Fire and gravel roads are 60% of what I typically ride. I have only put about 6,000 miles on the 1290 before going on this trip to New Mexico. I have done this trip on a Yamaha Gen II FZ1 and Triumph Tiger 800xc although this was the longest route I ever took.
The Pros
The Cons
After buying the 790 a few months ago I had a decision to make. Do I get rid of the DRZ or do I get rid of the 1290? I have ultimately decided I am keeping all three. ...for a while.
Top of Sandia Peak - Yeah! It was freezing!!!!
Trail Head in Cloudcroft, NM
Southern tip of Church Mountain, North of Ruidoso heading in to the plains.
Early morning shot outside of Artesia heading towards Lincoln National Forest. The only purpose of this stop was the photo.
For a little background... I bought this 1290 in September 2019 with 5,000 miles on it. Almost immediately it started throwing error codes for my rear shock. I wasn't surprised because I did my research before buying and knew the electronic suspension was a common problem. I bought a 3rd party extended warranty and that cover most of a new shock. I have had ZERO issues since.
Most of the riding I do is 250 - 300 miles on the weekends. Fire and gravel roads are 60% of what I typically ride. I have only put about 6,000 miles on the 1290 before going on this trip to New Mexico. I have done this trip on a Yamaha Gen II FZ1 and Triumph Tiger 800xc although this was the longest route I ever took.
The Pros
- I get 43mpg in Street mode. I thought this was great for such a big powerful bike! I intentionally left sport mode off most of the trip.
- I get 430 miles per tank with some room to spare. My buddy was getting about 260 on his K1600 which seems crazy to me.
- The electronic preload adjustments in the ECU really work. When I took all my hard cases off I forgot to change the setting back to no luggage. It was stiff as a board. Once I made the change in the ECU it was like butter again in street suspension mode.
- My nether regions survived with minimal damage on the OEM heated seat on up to 600 mile rides. I actually ordered a Seat Concepts comfort seat for this trip but it didn't make it in time. I cancelled the order after my experience on OEM. I also bought an Air Hawk DS seat but forgot to pack it. Glad I didn't need it.
- The K70 Rocks performed fantastically in every condition. Twisties, gravel, long slabs, etc. Barely a sign of wear. I love them!
- I never could have made this trip without cruise control. I have been suffering from tennis elbow for 4-5 months now. If I had to maintain throttle control throughout the entire trip I would have been in excruciating pain.
- I love that I can change suspension and performance settings while riding. I remember on my Tiger 800 I had to stop. I am sure the tiger has improved since then.
- The 1290 ate up 2408 miles in relative comfort throughout the trip.
The Cons
- I added an Altrider top rack to the 1290 with GIVI monokey setup before I left. To do that I had to remove my passenger grabs. Removing the passenger grabs meant I had to remove passenger heated seat control. Without that control plugged in I am getting a general error every time I start the bike. I am going to try to make a place to drill out the Altrider rack and add passenger control back. It was a little frustrating to clear the error every single time I started the bike on this trip. Not really the bikes fault but worth a mention.
- Taking a 15mph turn heading back south on Highway 4 from Los Alamos/Bandolier my front slipped on peat gravel while leaned over. I quickly turned in to the slide and back out along with a hard kick at the ground and I managed to not go down. It doesn't matter how good you think your tires are you need to look out for gravel always on mountain roads. My adrenal glands still work.
- I hate the OEM KTM hard cases. They are incredibly heavy and fragile. I am thinking I may get another MOSKO rack and mounts and use my MOSKO soft bags on both the 1290 and the 790.
- I didn't have enough storage space for souvenirs. I shipped every souvenir I bought back home. A few things could have fixed this. 1.) Pack less. I did pack to much clothes. 2.) Use a dry bag duffel for my clothes to leave a little extra space in my hard cases. 3.) Get an even bigger top case.
- They must have been crazy to design a Cruise Control system that exists on the right side of the handle bar. I always had to reach over with my left hand to set cruise control on the right. There is no way you can maintain throttle and manipulate those controls. ...at least not with my hands.
- My knees did start to hurt on some of the longer stretches. A higher Comfort Seat Concepts seat or even the Air Hawk I bought may have helped with knee angle a bit.
After buying the 790 a few months ago I had a decision to make. Do I get rid of the DRZ or do I get rid of the 1290? I have ultimately decided I am keeping all three. ...for a while.
Top of Sandia Peak - Yeah! It was freezing!!!!
Trail Head in Cloudcroft, NM
Southern tip of Church Mountain, North of Ruidoso heading in to the plains.
Early morning shot outside of Artesia heading towards Lincoln National Forest. The only purpose of this stop was the photo.
