I am a new owner of a 1290, and have read all the magazine reviews, which is why I bought it. I seem to remember them talking about wheelie and traction control as being two separate settings, but from what I have seen they are the same. Am I missing something, that they are the same and have no incremental settings, i.e. it is either on or off?
I bought it to be able to do power wheelies starting at highway speeds of over 60 mph. Reading the thread on power wheelieing this bike, some said it would do 4th and others said no. No one mentioned their settings. From what I have found out so far, it isn't going to do it without the traction control turned off, which you can only do when stopped.
Is this correct, and when you do this you lose the ability of the bike to prevent you from sliding out on a curve?

I don't always buy an SDR but when I do I buy it based on the opinions of motoring journalists even though I fail at reading comprehension.

Comrade Harold: I'm not into wheeling but am very much into staying alive.

You are quite correct about traction control being turned off and the implications for high sides Etc. One thing that the discussions seem to omit is any discussion of the ABS system. If I turn off TC I always turn off ABS so that if necessary I can feather the rear brake as it gets near midnight. I don't know what would happen if ABS was still on. Indeed what would happen as the front wheel touched down? It's a mystery that I haven't discussed with anyone.