I thought I'd drag this 1190 thread back again now I'm home after a couple of days of fun on my dated old hack of an 1190.
Firstly I've not convinced myself to either get rid or keep the 1190 so this is good because it keeps my savings intact
Things that are still good about the 1190 are easy to list:
The engine that still pulls like a train when you want it to.
The range when taking it easy is good with 250 miles between stops no big deal.
The handling is good on any road surface and the fact that the ABS allows the rider to brake mid corner without unsettling the bike if you need to allows for a degree of liberty taking that's fun when following a bike with similar ABS.
The brakes are still good for a bike with fairly soggy suspension though if they'd feel as good on something with firmer suspension I'm not so sure.
Bad things:
The factory supplied luggage fucks the handling big time. I wasn't going to use the top box this weekend but in the end I did and regretted it.
The fuel gauge range to empty is farcical.
The heat coming off the engine is a bit much in heavy traffic when you can't filter.
It's not got the 1290 engine.