Ducati Diavel launched - the monster within!

Love cruisers? Love naked power monsters? Well, after years of speculation and months of teaser spy photos, Ducati’s first cruiser in a generation was officially announced today, and it may send the most hardened anti-cruiser hecklers into the nearest lifestyle leather facility to get some chaps and conchoes.

This is Ducati’s first cruiser (and by cruiser we mean a motorcycle with exaggerated styling cues like extended wheelbases, lowered seats or other hallmarks of traditional-styled bikes) since the not-so-cool-looking Diana of 1986. “Cruiser” may be the most descriptive category, but maybe we need a new one for bikes like this Diavel, thethe Star VMAX. These machines offer heart-stopping power, sporting handling, bad-boy styling and frequently, customer-limiting pricing and availability. Megabikes? Supercruisers? Roethlisbarges?

Say hello to the new Ducati Diavel - the bike uses a full-honk 162 horsepower, 94 lb.-ft. of torque version of the wonderful 1198cc Testastetta motor called the “11º.” .It’s good for street riders—although it’s down 8 hp and 3 ft.-lbs. of torque from the 1198, Ducati claims it increases bottom-end power delivery and widens the powerband. Interestingly, the EFI is built by Mitsubishi and Mikuni rather than Marelli or Bosch.

It may look like style over substance, but this is a Ducati, so special attention was placed on having a sweet-handling chassis. Most importantly, weight has been kept to a minimum. At just 463 pounds of claimed dry weight (456 for the “Carbon” version), the Diavel is lighter than some newbie-friendly -priced 600cc cruisers I could name. The frame is a chrome-moly trellis bolted to cast-aluminum side plates, much like the current Monster models. The front suspension uses a fully adjustable 50mm inverted Marzocchi fork, and the rear gets held up with a linkage-equipped Sach monoshock. Brakes? None other than what look like the race-ready four-pot Brembo monoblock calipers found on the superbikes. The only things lacking may be cornering clearance—Ducati made the seat as low as possible (30.3 inches), which means lower footpegs. (Ducati videos show the rider coming close to dragging his toes on a spirited street ride) and quick steering, due to a 62.6-inch wheelbase and M-roadster-sized 240-section rear tire (which Ducati claims was specially made for the Diavel to offer phat looks and optimal handling, but sheesh, that’s wide).

The bike looks low, menacing and muscular, and the “Carbon” version, with special lightweight Marchesini wheels, carbon-fiber side panels and headlamp cowling, works even better. The use of plastic is minimized, and interesting details abound, like the billet-look mirror/turn signals, hideaway passenger footpeg/bracket units (a T-shaped grab handle also deploys for passenger comfort), wheel-hub-mounted license-plate bracket and burly handlebar clamp. Not cool enough? How about a TFT color display under the idiot lights? Or forged aluminum wheels? Icing on the cake is 15,000 mile major-service intervals.

Pricing and availability date for the USA or other markets has yet to be announced but expect the MSRP to be about $20,000, $3000 more for the Carbon.

Enjoy the VIDEO HERE