KTM 1290 SUPER ADVENTURE S (2021 - on) Review

Issues: - Misfire issue that took almost one year and 4 service intervention in order to be fixed - Wobbling at both low and high speed - Bike pulls very hard to the right no matter how straight the road is - After so many service interventions the bike has started to vibrate harder and it resonates very bad between 3000 and 5000 RPMBuild quality - Mirrors have started to rattle inside their cases (after 2000 KMs) - Left handle grip has started rotating . It feels like I have two throttle handles - Plastics look old only after one year of use (bike stays in garrage) - You have to check the bolts once in a while because the come loose.

You have to pay extra on unlocking equipment already mounted on the bike (quickshifter, riding modes etc) The tires that come with the bike are on the crappy side (no confidence at all when riding hard or on the wet)

The bikes great 0-100 in all types of riding no complaints

1250 gs’s & multi’s can lift front wheel off throttle no clutch whenever at will in the blink of an eye whereas the 1290 with everything switched off does but not so off the cuff so to speak , although a jab of the clutch & a blip & your up for how long is up to you.

Electronic suspension flashes up warnings and becomes unavailable in settings . Switching off leaving a few minutes sometimes sorts it but not always. Last service had a re set (Oct 23) but had to pay ! Been ok since but only done 400 ish mile since then.

1st service was approx £200 2nd £450 3rd £500 It’s done 11500 miles Service intervals are long but if you haven’t done the miles you still have to have an official stamped service annually.

Low down weight/ centre of gravity balance - it’s best feature. It has crash bars & fogs Panniers & top box for trips off. Standard silencer (which I get stick for !)

Fantastic is all I can say

Incredible, there is torque everywhere, I only need 4th and 5th gear.

See above

It would have Ben 5 if the seat was any good.

Superb brakes, comfort heated Ergo seat works for me

What's not to like with 160hp on tap

Rear damper failed 4 weeks out of warranty. Other than that I'm happy with the build quality

Active cruise control works very well for me on long motorway rides

I absolutely love the semi active suspension and all of the adjustments I can make via the handlebars. If I’m in a lot of traffic, I drop the preload to its lowest setting, so my feet are close to ground, if I am touring around Europe I have it on his highest setting, so I tower above the vehicles around me and I don’t have to worry about grounding out on fast corners with all the luggage on. The brakes are superb. As you would expect, the rear is better than a lot of large Bikes I have had and I’ll definitely better than the GS are used to own.You can really make this bike shift around the corners, which relies something of such size

It’s amazing. It’s every bit as good as the reports say, if not a little bit better. The more miles I get in it, the more free it feels and there is not a BMW GS on the road I can get anywhere near it. The various settings from rain mode to Sports to Street modeare useful, and if you are in rain and using rain mode, the range from the tank is incredible

I have had a couple of niggly issues with my KTM.The first was that there was an air trap in the cooling system, which I couldn’t resolve myself, so it had to go back to the dealers where they hosted the front wheel right up in the air on the lift and this apparently freed the airlock and they topped the fluid back up. It meant that I was without my bike for a few days, but Colwyn Bay KTM came to pick the bike up, dropped off an 890 adventure and then dropped the bike back with a couple of bottles of free Motorex radiator fluid. The second was that my head stock came loose whilst on the trip around Europe.It meant that up at 50 mph I had a wobble which was not dangerous or worrying, but it was incredibly annoying. Particularly under hard acceleration and at higher speeds on the autobahn. Again, the local dealership fixed it reasonably quickly, but it did mean that I had 100 mile round trip to get it resolved. It’s a job I think I could do myself next time.In terms of quality, I love the feel and look at the bike, although there is a little bit of black paint flaking off the front brake discs. This may be because I have covered over 12,000 miles in the first year and have ridden it properly but when you have spent £18,000 on the bike, it’s not something I want to see

Because of the miles I covered, I had to have my post run in service and my first service done in 12 months. You can help yourself in this aspect. If you have a little bit of mechanical nous, particularly things like removing the front calipers, using proper brake cleaning spray and making sure that all the rubbish is cleaned at the calipers properly. I have changed the oil at half the recommended oil change intervals for my own peace of mind and I also put a K&N oil filter in. Otherwise I haven’t had to spend any extra on the bike and for a bike of its performance. In size, I’m happy with the service and costs

I have the heated seat as well as heated grips, I have the full electrics pack and even though the quickshifter can be a little bit clunky at times, I use everything. The adaptive cruise control is really useful, particularly for doing long miles. The screen and the controls are really intuitive and easy to read and I can navigate my way through them without looking down now I’m used to it. The only downside, which I now believe, has been rectified, is that the indicator button is crap. It’s spongy, it’s small and the action is not very precise.

The bike is at it's best when you are 'making progress' OR 'pushing on'. It is a REMARKABLE all-round bike. I've quite happily ridden for 400 + miles (I did have the KTM Power Parts seat put on)

Performance is first class - an unbelievable engine. Power delivery is smooth throughout the entire RPM range and the torque is astounding

Absolutely no problems

Overall and considering the size of the engine I am v happy. Average mpg I would say is 45-48

Riding position is first class (now even for shorter legged people due to the revision of the seat height) The re-configuration of the fuel tanks means a much more stable bike than earlier models due to the low centre of gravity. Quick shifter added (big bonus) Heated grips Luggage Recently swapped the Mitas tyres (which were perfectly OK) for the Metzler SE01's - what a difference it's like riding a new bike

A lot more vibration than expected with mirrors blurring at 5000 rpm

Dislike vibration

Quality appears good but screws vibrate loose. They need checking or loctite used

Not yet relevant as service milage not reached

The seat could and should be a lot better, it's really poor for an adventure bike.

Coolant and petrol leaks

160bhp, what's not to like. Put it in Rally mode for crazy power delivery

Few electrical niggles as expected from a new model. Water pump leaked after 700 miles which is down to an assembly issue with a hose clamp. Quickly sorted by the dealer. Headstock bearing not tightened again quickly sorted.

Adapted cruise control is fantastic, makes things so easy on dual carriageways and motorways. Original tyres from new are Mitas, which are ok but not great. On a bike with this high a price tag it should have had top end tyres from new. Tech pack is a must to unlock all the incredible features but charging £1000 for a plug and play hurts.

Stunning.

Stunning. Brilliant power and torque, low or high speed responses and the best bit is it returns 54-57mpg even when ridden in a lively manner!

No faults from day 1 - A slight fault with an additional part bought as an extra which was replaced under warranty without quibble

Its not cheap to buy or run, but worth every penny.

Standard equipment is exceptionally good and enhanced by powerpart addons as you desire.

Stunning suspension especially with the optional Suspension Pro package. Sport or comfort, the damping and rebound are in their element offering a tailor made ride to suit your style. Brakes are very good and coupled with Anti-Dive that really does as it suggests, its very good and consistent.

Just amazing......Its a little weak on fuelling in the middle ranges to suit Euro 5 regulations, but nothing the average rider would notice or complain about. If its dialled out on a rolling road the performance is on another planet.

Nothing has gone wrong since the start of ownership - Its almost Japanese in its build quality and reliability with a much better overall European design ethos.

Its not cheap as one would expect, yet its consistently running at 54-57mpg with stunning performance. Tyres have a natural life of about 4-5000miles weather dependant. Most replace with Michelin Road 5-6 to replace the standard maxis tyres as they are slightly vague in damp and wet conditions. They are fine in the dry though.

A few items are extra's, like quickshifter, hill hold etc, but as standard its pretty damn impressive, what with radar cruise control, anti dive, heated bars and seats etc, but even with extra's it is still a better price than many other bikes in the same class and market overall.

With the linked and electronic suspension, the ride is sublime. I tried a skyhook equipped Ducati over the same backroads I regularly use and it tied itself in knots....the KTM takes it in its stride.

Stunning performance, midrange to top end is ballistic if you want it to ben or just tractable all day long, yet with brilliant refinement and economy.

Nothings come loose, nothings dropped off, nothings failed.....its one hell of a bike all round, excellent comfort with the additional heated Ergo seat (Why the hell isnt it fitted as standard????.... The bike has been cared for, gets polished after every ride no matter the effort involved and looks showroom condition to date...

Not cheap - its recommended to use Motorex oil. KTM dont issue you with a service booklet, just themselves to hook it up and confirm official servicing has been carried out - Dont know if its illegal under European law but its preventing you from not getting it serviced to plan elsewhere using genuine KTM parts as the law allows.....

You have to pay to unlock certain features, but with a brilliant base price, its not too much extra to get the exact bike you want and if its sold, and the new owner wants additional items, its a case of going to KTM and getting them unlocked.... an interesting way of purchasing the bike you the customer want.

Suspension fully tuneable. Seat is a bit hard for long distance so I use an Airhawk for long trips.

Never need more power. Smooth and tractable at low revs..

No issues

Good range when cruising long distance.

Everything I want is standard or available. I use a Puig screen instead of adding a deflector.

Persistent TPMS from day one. The TPMS signal receiver is built into the immobiliser unit. Day one of my NC500 holiday and the bike stopped responding. The new KTM RAC cover hired me a car and transported the bike back to the dealer. Not happy, very upset, ruined first holiday in two years.

Bang on the ride quality was great and it handled really well. My wife loved the bike when it was not broken

Performance 10 out of 10 pure beast great 2 up. I dislike the fact it has blown the front head gasket tho

Quality and reliability must be a joke to KTM. My 6 months of ownership have been rough. Both wingmirrors replaced. The right hand switch gear failed resulting me not being able to use any of the dash leaving my heated seat and grips on full along with it being stuck in rain mode for 3 weeks. The passenger heated seat switch failed. Now onto the engine, oil leak No.1 was apparently my oil cooler (the whole unit was replaced), oil leak No. 2 and coolant leak was the front cylinder gasket which still isn't fixed. The bike has been into KTM now for a total of 5 weeks and counting with no end in sight for the head gasket fix. As a mechanic by trade I can honestly say I've never come across a more unreliable vehicle in my life.

Haven't managed to get it to the service point yet but at this rate it wont need one because they will have probably built me a new bike from the ground up bolt by bolt the thing will be new again. It was getting about 51mpg on the motorway to and from work with around 35/36 mpg riding for fun over the weekend

Mine has everything you could wish for. The power parts heated seats are a must for the price

Brakes and general performance with the semi-active suspension have been awesome. Brakes are Brembo so that speaks for itself.Suspension is plush, handles bumps very well. Throwing into corners, it sticks wherever you put it and does not move. It took my a while to dial in what I wanted on the motorway from it. I find the comfort setting a tad too soft and bouncey, but street mode with the preload around 50% works for me. Being able to pump the preload up to canter you forward a bit more is also great for the sportier ridesSeat comfort is questionable. It's fine on day to day riding and blasts when you're moving around but I did find myself with a slightly numb cheek after 1.5hours on the motorway. That's easily solved with KTM's ergo seat selection but It would have been nice to have an ergo seat from factory, and spec a harder rally style seat if you so wished! The bike has an incredible level of versatility - sitting on the motorway for an hour with adaptive cruise control, and in relative comfort. Then jumping on a B-road an riding it like an over-sized supermoto.. it really belittles it's weight and leaves sportier bikes wondering what just happened. Lower down the traction control level in Rally mode and you'll find it wheelies a lot and the back steps out.Wind protection overall is great, but the screen leaves somewhat to desire. I'm a mere 5ft9 and I found my head getting buffeted around a lot. Added a clip on screen from Puig and it's now that famous 'Bubble of calm'. Rarely close my visor now!

Astonishing... Power everywhere, torque in abundance, and sounds great even with that euro 5 monstrosity bolted to the end of the exhaust. Waiting for Arrow to release their new can!The LC8 engine refined substantially from the previous model. Nothing else needs to be said.

Quality is faultless so far - everything looks and feels well built/put together. Although I'd say a GS has nicer feeling switchgearReliability so far has been faultless for me.. no black-screens, no keyless ignition problems, no preload adjuster problems yet etc. It did have a recall this weekend just gone which was a small plastic component near the exhaust which apparently had had a case of getting too hot and melting. That's been replaced with an aluminium one for free of course. It's a brand new model, so I'd expect at least a few recalls, and can't blame KTM for that as both my previous Yamaha, and friend's Triumphs' have had them too, on far more worrying components!

Can't say too much for this as I'm only 800 miles into ownership. First service was £96 at 620 miles which I thought was reasonable enough. I believe the first main service is around 250-300 but at 9.2k mile service intervals, I'd say most would only be paying for an annual service.Running costs - consumption has been pretty decent so far. Averaging around 48mpg (UK Mpg) riding on back lanes - and riding like a bit of an idiot. That power is addictive! On a longer trip, I managed 57mpg, which is great for such a powerful bike. Must be aided by the over-drive 6th gear. So the 23 litre tank would give me a theoretical range of knocking on 300 miles.

I've got the tech-pack, and heated grips on mine.Heated grips are great, loads of heat but haven't tested a lot as its been pretty warm recently. Tech-pack is awesome. Highlights being the suspension pro with the adjustable preload.. basically giving you adjustable ride height which works a treat for me. The rally mode also makes it so much fun to ride. Wheelies, power slides and all sorts but still saving you in the corners if you need it. The new quickshifter is buttery smooth on the way up when you're on the power. Blipper can be a little hit&miss but you just need to push down with enough force to make it slip into gear. Adaptive cruise is a game changer for the longer journey's... just takes the extra stress off you... although I know it's a contentious point for most bikers, after a 7 hour ride up to Scotland, I know who would be in a better shape. You can also change gear while in cruise control which is so good... clutch and/or quickshifter. Pull the clutch in for a few seconds and it will disengage it.

I have no complaints about the ride, especially in comfort mode. But the seats are lacking for long rides. I have Ergo seats on order but they have not arrived yet.

All in all the power is good for what the bike is. It comes on in a rush at about 6500 rpm and I've had the bike pull third gear wheelies in passing situations. Since wheelie and traction control limits power delivery anyway I think they could have taken away a couple teeth from the rear sprocket. The only thing I don't like is that the engine has an annoying ticking noise at low speeds that almost sounds like piston slap.

I've only had mine for 3k km so the only problem has been the previously mentioned ride height fault on startup. KTM have a reputation for spotty reliability so I am going to purchase an extended warranty just to be safe.

I have only had the bike in for it's post break-in service. That cost about 160 €.

I ordered the tech pack. I think that my favorite feature is the adaptive cruise control. The tires seem to be fine and inspire confidence.