I've owned many motorcycles in my years. Most have been Japanese. My father owned a Kawasaki dealer when I was born so it's been in my blood since birth. Can't say I've ever had a problematic one in all my 41 years. I fell in love with the Superduke 1290 the minute I saw it. I'm still in love 2 months & 1500 miles later. I can't help but notice all of the issues on this forum though. Should I be worried about this decision? I'm thousands deep in upgrades, in fact, I have a pile of things yet to install. Why do I feel uneasy about his bike even though it's been nothing but amazing? I'm looking into extended warranties, which I've never purchased in the past. I'm new to KTM. Rub my back and tell me "everything is going to be alright".

I don't think so. This despite the issues that some, including myself, have had.

The major parts are very good, now that the rear hub issue has been fixed.
All new models, including BMW, have problems the first year. My main gripe is the way KTM addresses these problems in some areas.
After a slow start KTM Australia addressed the hub issue correctly by replacing them all. That some places in the US still say a few mm of play is in within tolerance is unacceptable.

What KTM needs to work on is improve the quality control and response time when there is an issue.

Otherwise this is a great bike, what else comes even close??

And BTW where's that bloody quickshifter????

Ive owned a '14 and now own a '15 and ive noticed a difference between them. No issues with the '15 so far. I have 4200 miles on it now.

I once owned an RSV4 and those bikes are notorious for having out of spec valves pre inspection time.I spent a lot of time on the Aprilia forum and my head was done in with all the "possibilities" that may go wrong but nothing really did,well one or two small things that I didn't have to pay for.
Just don't spend too much time on forums unless something goes wrong or you need technical nymphomation;)

It is kinda like WebMD, after a search for a minor health issue I feel like I am going to be dead by morning. For every one person here which post issues, there are a hundred 1290 SD owners around the world flogging the crap out of theirs w/o issues. Just how I see it.

There's some issue on our 1290s where they either have to be ignition OR fuel cut(I can't remember which).....someone will chime in on this soon

I've got it. Shifts like butter. So smooth. No problems yet.

According to the description, it is cutting fuel. "will cut fuel delivery from your fuel injectors for around 65 milliseconds.". I guess I need to inquire with those guys. Doesn't sound right to me. I'd think it'd be cutting ignition.