1200 Is It A Show Stopper

I have given up on the back brake.

I agree about the DVT, my single spark is not great in towns but howls out on the open road, which we do get north of Kendal

 

I was on sportsbikes for years before I realised the error of my ways. How often are you sitting at the top end of a sportsbike's speedo. A multi will quite comfortably do 145 (in fact, I had that 2-up with full luggage and 150 on my own).

I've now realised, nice wife handlebars, a decent chassis and torque, are what I want. Corners are where I get my kicks and my KTM rocks corners.

 

I've hung on to my '10, despite a dreadful finish and a few of the well-known issues. The most recent and serious of those was a collapsed radiator, replaced under goodwill by DUK. However, with the Ohlins SCU, I'm very happy with the performance, and feel no inclination to replace it with a twin spark or DVT yet. So I bought a 749R with the 'saving' - another victory for man math...

 

I have a 16 1200s no major problems, few little niggles like the gear position sensor, had a recall for a replacement fuel tank.
Have owned Jap bikes and had problems with them, so make of that what you will.
The Multi is a fantastic bike, but it is a little tall for a lot of people, I don't have a problem, out most weekends 2 up with tank bag and large topbox
Just go with your gut feeling and enjoy whatever you buy,
You make the bike the bike does NOT make you

 

I dont agree with some of the opinions given, but agree with most.
If your not fussed about an S and happy with the base suspension then this rules out one set of criteria to compare. Once you decide that it will help your choice.

I had one of the first 2010 bikes, and now have a late 2012 (last of the pre skyhook).
Being an early adopter I had some of the issues on the first bike, including a broken ring (new head and barrel under warranty).
I hope I dont jinx it, but having done over 20k on each bike, this 2nd one has not had a single recall, and only had an engine case replaced due to corrosion.

The 2010 bikes had a few issues, but were generally all resolved under warranty.
Personally I would buy a late ohlins equipped bike (2012) every day over a newer 1st gen skyhook.

The twin spark engines from 2013 on are not significantly different in performance, reliability, or fuel economy to the earlier ones. The ohlins suspension however is far superior to the skyhook. The skyhook is good, but it is very firm in comparison, and anyone who has ridden both will likely agree.

The later dvt engines are much more fuel efficient, and seem to have less issues, but the bikes overall have a different set of niggles. They do seem to have a bit of a thirst for oil, so much so that Ducati have now released a bulletin about measuring aceptible usage.

Currently in negotiations with the wife about buying a new one next year (or whenever the new model is out), but if that doesnt happen I wont be upset.
Like Technomad (Hi Richard) I will be keeping this bike regardless of buying a new one.
I have considered the ktms too, but they suffer as many if not more issues, and getting spares / repaired when on a trip in europe is much much harder (a friend had a fault with an smt in france, dealers carry no spares, everything is order in only).

Hope that helps.

 

Same here, I've an MV F4 for the thrashy days, but the Pikes Peak (17 plate) has now done 2000 miles in the two months of ownership and the only problem I had was a faulty key from day one, which Ducati put right under warranty, no problems now, fully justified spending the money on the bike and I am very pleased with it's performance, both speed and economy, great tank range while being thrashed on occasion too, very comfortable at speed.