a late reply and a pretty obvious one but just in case it helps...
on our trip to Tibet, EBC & beyond we had a '12 TC and an '16 LC plus an 800 GSA, all with ESA. As Monkeyboy's RRs will tell you some of the roads and trails we did were pretty rough, and never ending. We had no failures. Was it luck or reliability? I can't say. However, I do know that we were all extremely aware of the seriousness of any breakdown in these very remote locations. So we all tried to ride with maximum mechanical sympathy. We did not alter our routes but when the terrain got tough we took it easy and took care of the bikes. (Apart from Monkeyboy's KTM...) the very few mechanical mishaps we had were due to human error, but that is another story...
I'd go with whatever you feel most comfortable with and look after it. Good luck with the ride
