Any reliable SD-GT's out there?

[Superdave99]

16 sdgt @ 25000 miles in just over a year and a half, no major issues and going strong.knock on wood. have had the normal recalls as everyone else. afew little niggles but dont know any bike that doesnt. no deal breakers for me just adds character. still puts big on my mug. great bike.

[jjscsix]

Seems like a good time to update this thread. I'm at almost exactly one year now. Despite not riding for nearly three months due to open heart surgery, and having two other bikes, I'm just over 10,000 miles now. Zero problems.

[reciprocation23]

I have a 16 GT in the states, owned for 18 months. KTM aka killer to maintain lol, everything is twice the price of Others but so is the riding experience! I have a slip on, flapper delete and O2 delete from Rottweiler. I have 6000 miles on her. And this is by far the best bike I have ever ridden! I notice a little bar shake at high speeds and people say that when the front tire wears, that happens, or switch to PR5's . I love the grip of the Angel GT tho. Puig's touring screen has been great! Their hand guards get a 3 out of 5 from me. They don't block the wind on those brisk days. My chain (I clean it and lube it religiously. Looks like it did when I bought it.) Seems to be in great shape. I do flog this bike from time to time. All motored fluids. Other than that, it's been a dream to ride. I'll never look for another bike. Super Duke GT for life.

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[DaveNZ]

My GT just ticked over 28,000kms with a 2200km trip last week, no issues other than the stand spur. Bloody reliable these 1290 KTMs

[Superdave99]

30K and going strong on 16sdgt.. same here no major problems so far( knock on wood) side stand spur and anew did chain about 5k back fantastic bike...

[Aussie Dave]

G'day all,

Over on the KTM forum there are a couple of 17SDGT's in the 40,000km zone...... this thread has a dreadful title which implies KTM's are disasters waiting to happen...... but most forum issues have been down to poor workmanship or gripes from new owners transitioning from long running Jap models that have had all bugs ironed out decades ago........ but were still to big and heavy

I've started back riding from a lengthy recovery (unlike my idol..... jjscsix)..... so I can only say 11,540kms as of today on a 17 SDGT........ and the only issue was a self inflicted one cause by a UK sourced charcoal canister removal dongle....... it burned out causing a few weird warning messages..... but at no time did the bike stop running well...... just a temporary scary time with 'warnings' which were "cured" by swapping the burned out resistor for the oem purge valve.

In fact, anyone thinking of removing the charcoal canister.... you actually don't need a resistor - just de-hose (and plug the throttle body hoses) the purge valve and leave it plugged in to the harness...... simples. Must still reroute the fuel vent hose to a safe location....... but it's a nil cost operation .

The OP's post was made when he was struggling with a 16 model's crook WP front suspension valving, and KTM dealerships that knew even less than he did (at the time)...... I won't mention other major brands reliability issues, just to put complaints into context ...... so 1290SD's ARE reliable, unless they have been worked on by poorly trained/time pressured tech's.

Ps that reminds me...... one of the go hard guys on the KTM forum just discovered his steering head was not torqued down enough.... he was asking if sliding the forks up 2-3 rings would make his steer better into turns....... by tensioning his head bearings correctly, his forks came further through the head clamp, and by sliding them up 8mm he at long last found the solution to his slow steering issue........ he's now a very happy camper