Ducati, as the prophecies told us, has once again added a cruiser to their lineup. This time around, they’re calling it the XDiavel (leaving us to wonder: Wasn’t the original Diavel supposed to be a cruiser?).
But, putting aside debates about whether the original Diavel was a muscle bike or cruiser, there’s no question as to what the new machine is. It’s as blatantly cruiserish as the Ducati Indiana. Officially, the marketing copy says it “brings together two worlds: the Cruiser world – low speeds, relaxed riding and long journeys – and the Ducati world, characterised by Italian style, refined engineering and unparalleled performance.
“The XDiavel ensures the “low speed excitement” typical of a Cruiser and the adrenaline rush of sports riding that Ducati has made its own.”
There you have it. This is the Diavel model that was spied sporting a belt drive, earlier this year, complete with feet-forward seating and a low 5.000 rpm threshold for max torque (max power is 156 hp).
Ducati claims that, between different configurations of the seat, controls, backrests, etc., there are 60 different configurations possible for this bike, to achieve max comfort. That approach is similar to the one Kawasaki took with the Vulcan S last year.
The XDiavel should still scoot along, with a 1262 cc motor featuring the Desmodromic Variable Timing system. It’s a revised version of the old Multistrada 1200 motor — Ducati never throws anything away — and also has dual spark plug heads, six-speed gearbox, slipper clutch, and 2-1 exhaust. Routine maintenance intervals are at 15,000 km, valve timing intervals are at 30,000 km.
The XDiavel also gets Bosch’s Inertial Measurement Unit, meaning it has cornering ABS. A ride-by-wire throttle allows for three power delivery modes (Urban, Touring, Sport). The bike also has eight-level traction control and a “launch” mode that helps you make dragbike-like starts.
Suspension is provided by 50 mm Marzocchi forks, which are full adjustable. There’s a Sachs shock in rear, adjustable for spring pre-load and damping rebound; it’s set almost in the horizontal position.
The XDiavel has LED lighting front and rear, as well as side-mounted running lights for safety. The dash is a TFT screen, and the switchgear is backlit.
GALLERY
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Kinda funky looking, I think it’s cool but not my style, don’t know why Duc don’t just make a proper relaxed cruiser if they wanna break into that part of the market, they’re already a popular brand and I’m sure they would be able to snare some folks on name alone
I’ve riden one of the older ones, it was a fucking BEAST!!! What’s a Harley?? ?
Terribly ugly
Looks like that useless Harley Rocker! Just a poser.