One of the biggest complaints that my ex had about riding on my old 990 was that she had a hard time holding onto the tank - partially because of the sharp angles, and partially because of how smooth the surface was. (Of course in retrospect, I should have just let the bitch fall off the back.)

To those of you with 1290s who have carried passengers, has your cargo voiced any concerns or complaints about the tank or being able to hold on?

Only that it's way better than the Tuono V4 =)

my 1290 is a me only bike
i have a 12 hd roadking when the wife wants to go for a ride
i had a ducati hypermotard evo sp that was my me only machine
the 1290 is the replacement for the duck

The 990 was the cause of my bride getting her bike lisence, she hated sitting on the back of it. Seat sloped downwards, high exhaust was loud and fed fumes to here when stopped at lights.
She has a 390 Duke now but on the odd occasion that she does get on the back she does find it quite comfortable, scary but comfortable.

I think it handles a passenger quite well from the riders perspective. My girlfriend found it fine holding onto me
(However I didn't go that hard with her on it) but my mates complained they had to push their knuckles into the tank to keep themselves from being thrown forward sometimes (so I reckon it'd be the same) and I took some of them for a good 2-3 hour ride and over 200kmph so they had plenty of time there.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.