Bike Six: KTM Superduke 1290GT

[Matt]

End of 2025 Update! We're on ~36,000 miles now (~6,000 on that Road 6 rear!) and due another valve clearance check and service when I can bring myself to call the dealer. I'm expecting ~£1,200 quid. Excluding whatever else it might need that I have forgotten. Definitely i'll be asking for clutch fluid flush!

I thought I'd start by referencing my update after my first OG trip in July 2023 with regard to any issues. This year it's done the usual UK stuff - although I have/had a job so less Welsh rambling - plus two European trips. One to Vosges and one to Provence. About 6k total, so both on that Road 6.

1. Oil temp sensor still not working. Don't care anymore. I just removed it from items that display.
2. Oil leaks: None at the moment!
3. Clutch! Had spongey lever syndrome and when we eventually bled the master a bit of solid matter came out. Maybe some plastic from the old slave got in the system somewhere. Dunno. Also a floaty bit in the reservoir. Anyway, clutch lever fine for the subsequent ~1,500 miles.
4. Battery issues/dead bike issues. None since. Just the one "General Failure" red alert one day during OG25 which disappeared without stopping.

Moans I had/have:
A. Luggage: I fixed this for OG25 by not taking the panniers and just using my Kriega 30 plus larger tank bag. I still had all my tools bar a flipping 6mm wrench needed for the master clutch bleed nipple. So I'll add that to the under seat kit (don't let me forget!).
B. Battery as mentioned above.
C. Long motorway comfort. I think my stupid shoulder issue has got less noticeable this year so it's not been such a pain. I also removed my 25/25 bar-back things and have been faffing with the windscreen angles. In any case, I'm losing the will to keep faffing with it and it's not top of my list.
D. Orange wheels. Yeah I did do some home ceramic thing on the rear, no idea if it helped. It would only make it easier to clean, not keep it clean, so mehh. I just ride it!

Ok so awesome things:

1. Noise. Yep still makes me laugh, and Track Pack 'Track' mode changes that noise a bit too, under fairly wide open throttle. And I still love just the simple gentle moving off in 1st gear V noises it makes.

2. Torque. Haaa! Man alive. One of the days I accidentally left it in 'Rain' mode, which drops 30-40hp and however much torque. Very noticeable and surprised me a couple of times when my overtakes took more effort. Though I've probably relied less on the torque aspect this year as my corner speeds/approach have increased/improved. Which leads us nicely to:

3. Going round corners. Oh sheesh. I must say that this year's OG trip i've moved on again and feel so much more confident. It's not just tyres as I had Road 6 last year. Anyone following me who knows me sees a pretty big change in how I get round corners. I'm still - in my subjective opinion - keeping my sight lines, stopping distances etc, but I feel so much happier flopping the bike onto its side and getting round any and all corners. I even briefly got pretty good at hairpins whilst chasing down (and failing) the crazy Austrian guy on his Husqy. Until the rear got a bit slippy. Not sure if this is my actually overheating the rear, or being ham-fisted with the throttle. We'll see what tyre I turn up on next year .

4. Looks. I still think it looks hilarious.

Whilst it's true that I dragged Martin to Bahnstormer on our way back, and stared at the M1000XR (and its S1000XR mate), I'm clear now I don't want to go that way. Whilst at 9/10ths it's probably going to be hilarious, it sounds from internets and common sense that it's going to be much less fun/more boring at anything below. Also I love my bike/bike format even more than ever.

I am a bit disappointed that I have to wait until 2027 (ref a KTM announcement i can't be arsed to find again) for the 1390GT to enter production, and that I have to keep mine alive for at least 6-12 months after that so they can work out the early-adopter issues. But provided it gets a clean bill of health with its pending service, I've got no real concerns above and beyond paranoia about it making another 10-20k miles. I might get someone else to replace the chain/sprockets next time mind you.

OK that's about it for my 2025 summary! I feel more confident than ever with this bike, and am looking forward to more fun miles next year. It's nice to not really be lusting after any other bike!






Oh! A last point for potential debate: I removed the SW-Motech bar-back things before the OG25 trip, and so if I understand physics and astrology this means it put more weight over the front. Whilst I want to put my improved skills down to purely human impacts - i.e. me and the people I ride with, every ride being a lesson - I wonder what impact people with real brains see this change having on agility/turn-in etc.

[black-k1]

Nice write up Matt. You certainly appeared to be having lots of fun on the Old Gits trip and the bike appeared to be doing really well, even allowing for the clutch fun.

Here's a couple of additional pictures for you.

[Grumpy jase]

Thanks for the write up, and your thoughts pretty closely mirror my own.  OG25 was make or break in my mind, as I hadn't truly got confident on the KTM.  Suffice to say, that I absolutely loved it, and it is now a keeper.  Noise, torque, cornering I completely agree, plus my wheels are black, so don't show the mess off the chain anything like as clearly.  Wish I could get 6k miles out of tyres, my Angel GT rear is ruined after 4k.  I found the comfort really good, last year on the K1300S I was struggling towards the end of the trip, but on the SDGT I was fine.  Cruise control helps with this, allowing me to move around more, and generally be a bit more relaxed.

One of the biggest improvements for me was adjusting the bar position, to get much more weight over the front end.  From the previous owner, the bars were pretty much as far back as they could be.  I've moved them so they are pretty much as far forward and I found that doing this made the front much more communicative, and therefore gave me the confidence to push it harder.  Sounds like you are finding the same.

On luggage, I really like the standard panniers.  They are a little snug, but I managed to get all I needed for OG into them with relative ease.  I was alarmed when I first packed them to find I also couldn't open them, but found just leaning lightly against the lid, unloads the latch, and they open easily.  Once I sorted this out, I had no issues, including no problems with heat.  Mine have the inner bags, which before I used them, I thought were pointless, but OG definitely showed how useful they are.

Battery, yep, mine is the same, as it's getting colder, I'm getting more and more random errors.  MTC failure at the weekend, fixed by turning it off and on again, plus a management light that won't clear.  Frustrating since it always starts, but modern electronics are really sensitive, my Jag is even worse.

Oil temp sensor, also the same, mine is about 15 degrees down, based on what it reads when starting first thing in the morning.  Slightly annoying as it has a much lower rev limit until it's up to temp, but now I've got used to it, not worth fixing, even if KTM can.

[Matt]

Ah we are fairly aligned! I do recommend trying the Road 6 tyres. I also got rubbish mileage until I tried these. Though I also got mayhe 1k more this year (used them last year too) which is perhaps a result of my change in approach to corners. Or maybe different usage. 1 big euro trip last year and then UK riding, versus 2 big euro trips this year and little UK.

I may faff with the bar position more. Good to hear you found the same, I've definitely felt more confident about that front wheel I reckon. More worried about the rear now 

Can't wait for the next trip. It's pretty hard to beat Southern Europe!

[Matt]

Nice write up Matt. You certainly appeared to be having lots of fun on the Old Gits trip and the bike appeared to be doing really well, even allowing for the clutch fun.

Here's a couple of additional pictures for you.

Thanks for these!

[richtea]

There has been talk in the Kawasaki world of a Versys with the H2 SX engine. I think that would tick all of the boxes but I've not seen it yet.

You were right, David. A Bimota Kawasaki:
https://www.bimotauk.co.uk/models/tesi-h2-tera

The box not ticked is affordability, although you can definitely see where they spent the money.
Quite nice in a weird way. Would need some Mich Road 6s fitting though.

[richtea]

35k and only minor irritations (that become large when you're in another country, admittedly) is about par for K bikes too, so I think you've done well out of it.

I probably need to try one some time.