Ducati XDiavel: FIRST RIDE

Rennie Scaysbrook | February 19, 2016

This is a Ducati’s latest sportbike. Oh wait, it’s a cruiser? Really?! With that engine? You could have fooled Rennie…

Photography by Milagro

Cruisers are slow, heavy, don’t steer, don’t stop and scrape everything. That’s what you’ll believe after riding the new Ducati XDiavel. Because not only has Ducati given their imposing but ultimately aging Diavel a new lease on life by reinventing it into a feet-forward badass, they’ve further decimated the notion that cruisers are indeed slow, heavy, don’t steer, don’t stop and scrape everything.

And that engine. My god. That ain’t no cruiser lump.

You can read the original magazine story by clicking HERE.

When the Diavel was released back in 2010, we saw the first tentative steps into a realm that was very un-Ducati. The company that prides itself on hitting apexes was seemingly a duck (sorry Gavin) out water, and regardless of the sales success, an update was indeed required to keep the Diavel name in our collective frontal lobes.

In the XDiavel we have a marriage of insane levels of performance matched to a super low, far from lazy chassis. It’s a design that speaks to anyone with even one performance bone in their body, and herein lies a problem with this bike. Cruisers are built for just that—cruising. Cruising is not about racetrack levels of performance. A Kawasaki Vulcan rider could care less about top speed or quarter-mile runs, but this type of performance, that life-enhancing dance between man and machine, is intrinsically linked to the Ducati brand. Ducati is aiming this machine at the, let’s say, performance aficionado, whose sportbike days are long gone, his Harley days not yet arrived. And if Ducati has its way, they never will.

The heart of the XDiavel is no less than an absolute beast. Under the teardrop gas tank sits a version of the DVT (Desmodromic Variable Timing) engine that debuted in the Multistrada last year. But unlike the Multi, the XDiavel tips the capacity scales at 1262cc, up from 1198cc for the standard Diavel, which has resulted in an absolutely massive increase in bottom-end torque.

The XDiavel’s also loaded to the brim with electronics—ABS, Ducati Traction Control, three riding modes—plus it debuts a new system in the Ducati Power Launch, or DPL, itself housing three separate maps for your riding pleasure. This allows you to select the desired launch program, hold the gas wide open aaaand… dump the clutch. The resulting launch should catapult you half way into next week, if done correctly.

Due to the obvious repercussions of engaging in such delightful activities on public roads, Ducati did not allow for the journalist drag race as everyone was hoping for—so I can’t actually tell you how good the system works.

What I can tell you about is the star of the show—the 1262cc of mad Italian mafia located beneath your crown jewels. For years the cruiser has typically been the retirement bike of choice, a machine you glide to in your latter years once the hedonistic days of speed and lust leave your loins. Put simply, the XDiavel is not a cruiser—it’s a Panigale’s porky cousin. The DVT-equipped engine lumps torque to the now Gates belt-equipped final drive with stupendous force, the kind of thump that only comes from more inches and not forced induction. It’s so impressive that anywhere from 3500 rpm right through to 8000 rpm the XDiavel has enough go on tap to seriously test the Ducati Traction Control system, even though you’re transmitting all that push into a rear tire the size of which is not even on many passenger cars.

The motor’s character takes on three different guises in the Ducati Power Modes—Sport, Touring and Urban—all delivering slowly diminishing levels of outright performance. I must be getting old because I’m really starting to enjoy the Touring mode on Ducatis these days—I first realized this back in 2014 with the Monster 1200. Getting old sucks.

Sport-mode will give you the full house rage of an engine ripped from its natural racetrack habitat, slamming you back into the comfortably cupped seat with such zeal you immediately try to haul yourself back toward the handlebars, pushing on the forward-mounted pegs while pulling on the one-piece bar. Touring provides a nicer, smoother throttle response: it’s still godly fast, just tempered with a touch of maturity, almost like a retired racer that says, “yeah, been there, done that, could easily do it again if I wanted too…”

Is this bike Casey Stoner?

Urban mode is one I’ll admit to spending little time in. In this guise the XDiavel’s throttle response becomes too muted for my tastes, but it’s nice to know you have the option of reducing that thumping Italian torque to further sane levels.

It’s not just the overall torque of the V-twin that’s impressive. It’s the smoothness of delivery from the ride-by-wire throttle in each of the three modes, the velvet glove/iron fist cliché, all done with a cheeky smile like a young Sean Connery. The spread of torque is good for those that don’t like to move the left foot so much, as you’ll cruise happily along in fifth gear for miles without the need to jump to sixth, which is not an overdrive as such, but certainly taller than any of the proceeding five cogs. But there’s no quickshifter on the XDiavel, which for my money robs the bike of another chance to further pound traditional cruisers into the tarmac. Cruiser’s crappy gearboxes are a trademark, and even though the XDiavel’s shift isn’t in anyway harsh, a QS-equipped gearbox would be a nice touch.

A nice touch is indeed how well this machine steers with that car-sized rear tire on the back—although this is no great surprise. The Diavel broke new ground five years ago in how a chassis could steer with such a massive ass, so even though the low and lazy stance of the XDiavel dictates it should steer like a taco truck, the fact it doesn’t is no big deal. It’s not perfect—the initial turn is slow as the bike rolls over the arch in the center of the tire and into the corner, but in the cruiser segment, the XDiavel’s speed of turn is more akin to Mugello than Milwaukee. There’s still a tendency to push the front that naturally comes from something this low to the ground, but the fact of not carrying a substantial amount of weight (a claimed 545-pound curb weight with a 90-percent full gas tank) allows the XDiavel rider to pick and change lines when leaned over at the claimed 40-degree max angle much faster than traditional cruising will allow.

*The dash is brilliant and has three different modes to choose from.*

And no, for the first-time ever on a bike dubbed a “cruiser,” I did not manage to ground the pegs. Not once. Not even I can believe I just said that.

I’m not a big one for traditional cruiser-riding positions, however, and I have to say the XDiavel is no different. After an hour with my back in the old-school cruiser slouch, pain began to make its ugly presence felt despite the seat being one of the more outstanding in the segment. The placement of the pegs no doubt attributed to this, and I wasn’t able to try an XDiavel with more rear-mounted pegs—so I’ll reserve final judgment on overall ergonomics until I do. I’d better find a setting that fits, because Ducati is claiming 60 (yes, 60) different ergonomic possibilities with the XDiavel via different bar bends, peg and lever settings and seats.

Another thing is the rear shock is certainly on the stiff side in the standard settings. After a while the shocks through my lower back really started to annoy me, so if it were my money I’d be looking for a softer setting for when I do big days in the saddle, which this bike is no doubt aimed to do.

There’re two versions of steed available to the potential XDiavel customer, with the only performance feature being an upgrade of front-brake calipers to the Brembo M50 monoblocs found on the Panigale. The rest is as follows: gloss black paint and red pinstriping on the tank; machined engine covers in gloss black; beautiful chrome and gloss black rims (they really do look exceptionally horny); forged and machined side plates, peg supports and billet mirrors; a brushed and anodized swingarm; different seat and also a daytime-running light and Bluetooth infotainment system. An XDiavel S will cost you an extra three grand, but next to a standard XDiavel there’s simply no comparison in the looks department. The S screams at you in such volume it makes you think the standard XDiavel has lost its voice. But if performance is all you care about, go for the standard bike.

And this brings me back to that question I was struggling with at the start of the story. Who exactly is going to buy an XDiavel? After chatting to a few staunch Harley friends, they simply wouldn’t buy it because it’s not a Harley. Just as they won’t buy a Victory or Indian. The marriage of eye-popping performance and cruiser aesthetics will appeal to a very certain customer, rather than the broad public appeal of a push-rod American twin.

I’m a performance nut, so for me there’s no question as to what I’d buy in the former or the latter, but I don’t think it’ll be so simple for many others out there. But that’s a job for a good salesman, and Ducati has plenty of those.

Regardless, Ducati has produced an outstanding machine—the build quality is superb, the performance mouthwatering, and the sheer presence as Italian as Agostini in an Armani suit.

Sidebar: I’ll have one with more angry, thanks.

The undoubted star of the XDiavel show is not the low chassis, or the massive rear tire or even the fact it’s got cruise control—it’s the angry maniac engine on full display between the frame rails.

This is a totally new engine from Ducati, designed to get through the strangling Euro4 emissions limits now in force. The Ducati Testastretta jumps up to 1262cc via a 3.6mm longer stroke than the 1198cc motor that sits in the Multistrada and compression bumped up to 13:1 from 12.5:1, and it also uses the (Desmodromic Variable Timing, or DVT) system that debuted last year.

The DVT system independently varies the timing of both the intake- and exhaust-valve camshafts via a valve-timing adjuster applied on the ends of each of the two overhead camshafts. The system has two parts: an external part rigidly connected to the pulley driven by the timing belt and an internal one connected to the camshaft, which can rotate earlier or later depending on oil pressure in the chambers. The oil pressure itself is adjusted by dedicated valves and the timing of each camshaft is controlled dynamically by sensors in the cam covers. The idea is instead of having one specific valve overlap, like 11-degrees as was on the original Diavel, the DVT system allows for a constantly varying overlap tailored to suit the operating conditions, and what you feel is means a smoother throttle and more consistent torque across the rev range.

The XDiavel uses the same 56mm throttle bodies as the Multistrada and uses dual-spark ignition with a secondary air injection into the exhaust to extinguish any unburned hydrocarbons, but the cylinder heads have come in for an overhaul to accommodate the new chassis.

One of the main features of the XDiavel is the new total lack of visible wires and water hoses. The water pump now sits in the middle of the cylinders—inside the “L—meaning the engine now becomes a visual showpiece devoid of ugly water hoses.

The new Gates final drive belt is another first for Ducati, who believe the belt system is integral to the classic design of a cruiser. The belt transmits power from the six-speed gearbox to the massive 240-section rear tire, with Ducati claiming 156 horsepower at 9500 rpm and 95 lb.-ft. of torque at 5000 rpm.

Specifications	Ducati XDiavel
Engine:	Ducati Testastretta DVT (Desmodromic Variable Timing), L- Twin, four desmodromically actuated valves per cylinder, dual spark, liquid cooled
Displacement:	1262cc
Bore x Stroke:	106 x 71.5mm
Horsepower:	156 hp @ 9500 rpm (claimed)
Torque:	95 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm (claimed)
Compression Ratio:	13:01
Transmission:	Six-speed
Chassis:	Tubular steel trellis
Front Suspension:	50mm inverted fork, adjustable rebound and spring preload
Rear Suspension:	Single shock absorber, adjustable rebound and spring preload
Front Brake:	Twin 320mm discs, four-piston radial calipers, ABS
Rear Brake:	Single 265mm disc, two-piston caliper, ABS
Front Tire:	120/70 ZR17
Rear Tire:	240/45 ZR17
Rake:	30°
Trail:	5.12 in.
Wheelbase:	63.58 in.
Seat Height:	29.72 in.
Overall Width:	N/A
Overall Length:	N/A
Fuel Capacity:	4.75 gal.
Weight:	545 lbs. (wet, claimed).
Color:	Black, Gloss Black
MSRP:	$19,995 (standard), $22,995 (S model)

You can read the original magazine story by clicking HERE.

For more Cycle News Cruiser motorcycle reviews, click HERE.

For more Ducati motorcycle reviews, click HERE.