tell me about your 1190

[cookie]

they're rubbish. don't buy one.


the only reason i bought one was so i didn't keep seeing the same bike coming the other way. how will i feel superior when every body's got one?

 

[Nutty]

You really need to take one out for a demo......

The 1290 Super Adventure is certainly intriguing

 

[cookie]

The 1290 Super Adventure is certainly intriguing

not very practical though, is it?

oh hang on, it's a KTM. practical is not the most important thing. i keep forgetting, all those years of BMW ownership have stamped a whole philosophy on my brain.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

not very practical though, is it?

oh hang on, it's a KTM. practical is not the most important thing. i keep forgetting, all those years of BMW ownership have stamped a whole philosophy on my brain.

I was allowed out on mine tonight 'cos I was being so mardy and I was thinking exactly the same thing on the way home just now........

.........great isn't it

Andres

 

[MattW]

now with wings

i've since re-routed the tank bag straps. TBH the bag is a bit pony compared to a model specific BMW item.

good toolkit - appears to contain a bottle opener and a garrotte

Apparently the bottle opener is a torque wrench adapter to allow you to get to a semi-obscured head nut (guess who's been reading lots of KTM stuff over the last few days...)

 

[corsicandreamer]

Anyone offering odds on MattW buying one after the test ride? -------- thought not

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Anyone offering odds on MattW buying one after the test ride? -------- thought not

Been thinking along the same lines myself.........................

Andres

 

[MattW]

I'll be needing to assemble some cash first (and wait for feedback from Cookie and Andres )

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

I'll be needing to assemble some cash first (and wait for feedback from Cookie and Andres )

You'll get a cool, objective and well informed opinion from Cookie and a gushing "it's the best bike in the world, ever" from me - somewhere between the two will lie the truth

I'll try and do an objective write up once I've got a few miles on her

Andres

 

[MattW]

You'll get a cool, objective and well informed opinion from Cookie and a gushing "it's the best bike in the world, ever" from me - somewhere between the two will lie the truth

I'll try and do an objective write up once I've got a few miles on her

Andres

Brill

 

[Timolgra]

and a gushing "it's the best bike in the world, ever" from me - somewhere between the two will lie the truth

That's what I said after riding one for a day, I'll wait until you've put 70k on her and then see .......... if you can stop grinning long enough to write something

 

[MattW]

Gotta say, I'm also looking hard at 9xx's too (especially 950's)...

 

[Timolgra]

Gotta say, I'm also looking hard at 9xx's too (especially 950's)...

Well....... now this isn't going to go down very well here but....... after riding the 1190 all day and nearly wetting myself with excitement, I got back on the 950 and much preferred it in all ways

 

[MattW]

Well....... now this isn't going to go down very well here but....... after riding the 1190 all day and nearly wetting myself with excitement, I got back on the 950 and much preferred it in all ways

Interesting...

Trouble is, apart from having a vague lust for them for years, I know basically squat about KTM's. While I could fairly confidently tell a pig from a poke with an oilhead BMW, a 9xx KTM is a whole different ball game (hence all the reading )

 

[Timolgra]

Interesting...

Trouble is, apart from having a vague lust for them for years, I know basically squat about KTM's. While I could fairly confidently tell a pig from a poke with an oilhead BMW, a 9xx KTM is a whole different ball game (hence all the reading )

Speak to JaseXT (on this site) he has a 950 and had various side by side speed tests against KTM John on an 1190 and guess what, despite having a reported 150bhp on tap?..................

 

[cookie]

every time i ride mine, i like it more. it has so much of what motorbikes should be about running through it like a stick of rock.

much as i loved my GSAs, i always said i saw them as appliances. bloody good ones by any measure, but basically a tool for a job. the KTM is not an appliance, it's an experience!

 

[Timolgra]

every time i ride mine, i like it more. it has so much of what motorbikes should be about running through it like a stick of rock.

That's very true for much of their range and why they're so popular (among the discerning)

 

[cookie]

i'd have probably bought one earlier (and maybe i should have), but i just can't get on with the way they looked with the angular bodywork and 21" front wheel. IMO the only bike that worked on is the R model, in blue, but i'm too short to ride that one.

 

[MilkMaid]

In a nutshell I think it goes like this: the only bike mentioned in this thread that I can compare my 1190R with is my original model (2004) 1200GS. That bike was brilliant. I rode mine for 36k miles. Only failed me once (fuel pump controller - happened outside the ale house. That's karma man!). Did everything I asked of her: touring, two-up touring, trackdays (Oulton, Donington, Nurburgring), green-laning, Moroccan pistes, commuting. Took all of those different riding styles in her stride. Did some tasks better than others (she wasn't a track bike, that's for sure, but was a brilliant commuter and tourer). Trouble was, she seemed very utilitarian and didn't really excite me any more.

At the same time as owning the 1200GS, I also had a 1050 Speed Triple (2010 variant - last of the round head-lighted ones). If you put the GS and the Speed into a bag together and shook them up, you'd end up with an 1190: that's how I saw it anyway!! The 1190R does everything the 1200 did, but better. The only area it might be lacking in is two-up touring (marginally less space on the pillion seat) but those days are over - Mummy Milkmaid needs to stay at home with Baby Milkmaid while Daddy Milkmaid goes out to explore the brave new world.

The 1190R is fast, comfy and very very capable. OK, my left leg gets a bit too warm when the temperature gets into the high 20's but I can live with that in the UK! I'm currently a one-bike man and happy that way.

(Doesn't mean I don't hanker after a 400-600cc trail bike, a track-only bike and a customised urban scrambler though!!)

 

[Davy F]

A few observations from me. I almost bought a KTM 950 way back in 2005. I was lucky enough to have a good friend who took the plunge with a 950 S Adv and lent it to me for a couple of days to see how I got on with it. Briefly, it was great fun, but I just didn't gel with it and the worst points were the buffeting and the wooden seat. So I went and bought my 12GS instead, and very good it was too, despite recalls and gearbox seals going south after 12k miles, stupid servo brakes that played up and other annoying little things that made me wonder why I left the Japanese fold.

I again tried the KTM 990 Adv, but felt it hadn't been improved over the 950 and the fuelling or throttle wasn't terribly good.

Another few bikes passed through my buttocks before last year when I decided to treat myself to an expensive retirement pressie and so the test rides began. I tried everything in the Adv category bar the Kawasaki Versys 1000 as I have gone off IL4's. But the one that blew me away was the 1190 Adv. And after 7k miles, I still can't get over how good it is. Everything from being pretty damn comfortable to the good fuel returns and of course, the performance. I also think that it is a good looking machine, although I didn't like it when I saw the prototype pictures, so I guess the looks have really grown on me. Yes, I have had a couple of recalls, but compared to some toilet owners, these are pretty minor. The finish has pleased and all in all, I made the right choice. I have a good dealer too, but I don't get to see much of him in reality. As far as this bike or that bike is quicker etc, well, I've had fun with a few toilet jockeys and it was very obvious, they weren't Schtum. The only thing I can honestly say that is 'bad' about the 1190 is that with panniers fitted, it starts to break into a weave above 105 mph (on the Autobahn's, your Honour).

So to sum up, I love it.