Roadhawg
Grey Hound
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2013
- Messages
- 6,304
- Reaction score
- 1,127
- Bike
- Husqvarna (all models)
So. I'm at that point where my warranty is coming up on my 1190, I love the bike, but the 1290R has been staring me in the face more and more and I can't lie....I've been thinking about it.
Went past RAD this morning. They didn't have a demo but had a chat about the 1290. Got my service interval reset on my bike (I service yearly and now it's reached 15000kms since the 1k service so it's moaning to be serviced...Only needs it in July). Decided why not check out Raceworx.
They had a demo. Initially the guy reckoned it'd be for sale at R215k. I was like, "that might be doable.......Can I take it for a spin?"
Do the paper work, get on the bike and the sales guy walks away.......Uhm...."Dude! Come back!..HTF do I start this thing!?" Felt like a noob fiddling with buttons. You basically have to hit the kill switch, the display comes on, then you can start it like normal. Ok. Getting there. Pull off....*CLUNK* I stall it :laughing4: Muppet. The clutch was set extremely close to the bars, I like mine set pretty far out so just a different setup to get used to.
"Ok Stu, lets try this again."
Get it moving and it feels great....It's a new bike so yeh it should do, but it feels much the same as the 1190. Oddly, it does feel lighter. I don't know why or how but it hides it's weight very well.....Even when stationary somehow. I cannot imagine how that works, but I wasn;t imagining it. My bike felt heavier when I got back on it.
Get onto a main road. Give it a few squirts....It does feel a bit meatier than my bike....but the power difference really isn't huge. It might be a bit better at very low rpm, but it's hard to tell really. I think it's more mid range than the top-endy feel of the 1190 (which is fun in itself)
Then I remembered it has a quick shifter. Ok lets give that a bash. Once I got over the reflex to roll off between shifts......HOLY MOTHER OF BUDDHA! That QS make a MASSIVE difference. Just hold her open and bang through the gears and you are doing stupid speeds extremely quickly and easily. I think it is an easier bike to ride really fast. It nudges you a bit harder to whack it open....I didn't think that was possible after the 1190 but it's true. It's a bad influence for sure, but you always feel very much in control.
Downshifts work lekker as well. If you're cruising along in 4th, and wanna get going just open up and stand on the shifter and it drops to 3rd and you are out of there in a blink of an eye.
It has that hill hold assist which works well but it feels a bit weird. Im sure it's something you get used to though. I don't like how the TC light blinks when it is holding you though....Unless that was an issue with this bike. I thought I broke it for a second
That TFT screen really is amazing. I was in that typical shitty highveld mid morning summer sun when you can never read your bloody phone....Screen was crystal slear the entire time. I'd be so worried about scratching it though.
Obviously riding on the road I felt no difference in suspension. I tried to hit a speedbump fairly hard but it felt the same as my bike TBH. I'm no dakar racer though.
It turns out that demo is not for sale, so i'd be in for the princely sum of R230k, and that excludes the QS, which to me is not fucking optional. That MUST come with haha
I'll do some more sums and see if it's workable. I love my bike currently so either way I'm happy. The big alien looking thing is bloody nice though. I remember thinking "Ok, it's more of a change that I thought it would be" ......But at the same time it still feels very familiar, as it should.
Went past RAD this morning. They didn't have a demo but had a chat about the 1290. Got my service interval reset on my bike (I service yearly and now it's reached 15000kms since the 1k service so it's moaning to be serviced...Only needs it in July). Decided why not check out Raceworx.
They had a demo. Initially the guy reckoned it'd be for sale at R215k. I was like, "that might be doable.......Can I take it for a spin?"
Do the paper work, get on the bike and the sales guy walks away.......Uhm...."Dude! Come back!..HTF do I start this thing!?" Felt like a noob fiddling with buttons. You basically have to hit the kill switch, the display comes on, then you can start it like normal. Ok. Getting there. Pull off....*CLUNK* I stall it :laughing4: Muppet. The clutch was set extremely close to the bars, I like mine set pretty far out so just a different setup to get used to.
"Ok Stu, lets try this again."
Get it moving and it feels great....It's a new bike so yeh it should do, but it feels much the same as the 1190. Oddly, it does feel lighter. I don't know why or how but it hides it's weight very well.....Even when stationary somehow. I cannot imagine how that works, but I wasn;t imagining it. My bike felt heavier when I got back on it.
Get onto a main road. Give it a few squirts....It does feel a bit meatier than my bike....but the power difference really isn't huge. It might be a bit better at very low rpm, but it's hard to tell really. I think it's more mid range than the top-endy feel of the 1190 (which is fun in itself)
Then I remembered it has a quick shifter. Ok lets give that a bash. Once I got over the reflex to roll off between shifts......HOLY MOTHER OF BUDDHA! That QS make a MASSIVE difference. Just hold her open and bang through the gears and you are doing stupid speeds extremely quickly and easily. I think it is an easier bike to ride really fast. It nudges you a bit harder to whack it open....I didn't think that was possible after the 1190 but it's true. It's a bad influence for sure, but you always feel very much in control.
Downshifts work lekker as well. If you're cruising along in 4th, and wanna get going just open up and stand on the shifter and it drops to 3rd and you are out of there in a blink of an eye.
It has that hill hold assist which works well but it feels a bit weird. Im sure it's something you get used to though. I don't like how the TC light blinks when it is holding you though....Unless that was an issue with this bike. I thought I broke it for a second
That TFT screen really is amazing. I was in that typical shitty highveld mid morning summer sun when you can never read your bloody phone....Screen was crystal slear the entire time. I'd be so worried about scratching it though.
Obviously riding on the road I felt no difference in suspension. I tried to hit a speedbump fairly hard but it felt the same as my bike TBH. I'm no dakar racer though.
It turns out that demo is not for sale, so i'd be in for the princely sum of R230k, and that excludes the QS, which to me is not fucking optional. That MUST come with haha
I'll do some more sums and see if it's workable. I love my bike currently so either way I'm happy. The big alien looking thing is bloody nice though. I remember thinking "Ok, it's more of a change that I thought it would be" ......But at the same time it still feels very familiar, as it should.
