Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1484691
QUICKSPIN I 2022 KTM 1290 Super Adventure S P92 feel at the handlebar compared to conven- tional springs and clickers. Various modes within the suspension brain allow you to dial in the feel you want, and you can independently vary shock preload and stiffness, anti-dive and fork preload/stiffness. You can turn the 1290 S into a track day hack (yes, people do) or the kind of bike you'd ride form LA to New York on, but the individual modes seem pretty good for the majority of riding I did during my week on board. Granted, I did not ride with a passenger or luggage, at which point you may want to get in there and change the settings yourself. The electronic adjustability is almost infinite on the 1290 S. Almost every form of suspension, throttle or braking parameter can be altered, and don't forget there's the Adaptive Cruise Control hiding within the ECU as well, just like that maxi-ADV tourer painted red from south of Austria's border. The ACC runs three distance settings to the car in front, with the furthest setting being a good 100 ft or so. I am a massive fan of ACC, have been since I tried it on the Multi- strada last year. The KTM's got a slight upper hand in one area in that when the throttle is reapplied by the ECU as the car in front pulls away, the drive comes in smoother than on the Multi. However, the Multi does have Blind Spot Detection software integrated into the mirrors, which the KTM is missing. The 1290 Super Adventure S is an ex- ceptional machine from KTM but it's not for everyone. The sheer size of the bike means even for me at 6'1" I found I had to be a care- ful in getting the bike off the side stand and on its way, and the overwhelming number of electronic parameters will no doubt put a few buyers off. However, from a purely riding and not owning point of view, this is one of my abso- lute favorite motorcycles of 2022. CN SPECIFICATIONS 2022 KTM 1290 SUPER ADVENTURE S ($19,499, $21,543.94 AS TESTED) ENGINE Twin-cylinder, 4-stroke VALVETRAIN 4-valves per cylinder COOLING SYSTEM Liquid DISPLACEMENT 1301cc BORE X STROKE 108 x 71mm FUEL INJECTION Electronic, twin injectors per cylinder, full ride-by-wire 52mm elliptical throttle bodies, fixed- length intake system COMPRESSION RATIO 13.1:1 EXHAUST 2-2-1 TRANSMISSION 6-speed with optional Quickshifter+ CLUTCH PASC slipper clutch, hydraulically operated ELECTRONICS Four Riding Modes, Power Modes, Cornering ABS, Traction Control, Quickshifter+, Vehicle Hold Control, Cruise Control, full LED lighting, Daytime Running Light, backlit handlebar switches, 7-inch TFT color display CHASSIS Chromium-Molybdenum steel trellis frame, powder coated FRONT SUSPENSION 48mm WP SAT fork, semi- automatic, fully adjustable REAR SUSPENSION WP SAT shock, semi-automatic, fully adjustable FRONT BRAKE Dual 320mm discs, radially mounted Brembo monobloc four-piston, 2-pad calipers, radial master cylinder REAR BRAKE 267mm disc, Brembo 2-piston caliper FRONT TIRE 120/70 x 19 Mitas Terra-Force R REAR TIRE 170/60 x 17 Mitas Terra-Force R RAKE 27.7° TRAIL 4.3 in. WHEELBASE 61.3 in. SEAT HEIGHT 33.4-34.7 in. FUEL CAPACITY 6.1 gal. WEIGHT (WET) 540 lbs.