I am a petrol head but regardless how much i like the KTM 1190/1090 I will not get my head around it to buy one. So many wow factors but what confuses me is that you are concerned about a GS1200 maintenance cost. KTM = ATM joke is actually not a joke... 
Reading through your thread I can't see how any of the other bikes mentioned can beat the DL1000 in 1st reliability and 2nd running cost.
Thanx for the input Tom,
Taking this step to spend so much money on a bike is a really big step for me....was actually considering a second car for the wife but the desire to ride again have actually overwhelmed me...and the wife actually supports the desire...
I think the reason why the KTM was a choice as well was due to me having KTM offroads that I serviced/maintained myself where possible, ....so saved some costs in terms of labour etc.
The same applied to my KLR and Versys...if I can do something myself then I will attempt it.
Maybe its because I try to save money where possible to do something myself but obviously when looking at some of these bikes, they might be to complicated to work on yourself when coming to electronics etc.
Must admit I have not done much in terms of checking the net pertaining to the GS...
Thats why I threw out the question to get some opinions and suggestions from people that either have or had these bikes.....the internet is full of positive and negative info and yes, one needs to consider as much as possible....maybe Im overthinking this

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