Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/949296
You Can't Spell XDiavel S without SEX 2018 Line up Ducati I've never been to Italy but a lot of my favorite things originate there - pizza and sleek, sexy motorcycles being just two of them. Long known for its hot, distinctly European iron, Ducati put its stamp on the cruiser market with the two motorcycles you're about to see. When the Italian man- ufacturer designed the XDiavel and XDiavel S cruisers, I can just imagine how the first pitch meeting went in the office. "We'd like to grind George Clooney and Christina Hendricks into a paste, pour it into a chassis mold, and put a Ducati motor into it after it dries." "Sounds like a plan. Make it so!" Or something along those lines. Speaking of lines, those that define the XDiavel make for a very modern looking motorcycle that's distinctly Ducati. The XDiavel's elongated, low-slung, muscular modern shapes and technologically cutting-edge components would make it just as at home in a science fiction film as on the street. But above all, the machine is a sexy beast. Ducati design- ers envisioned the XDiavel from the get-go in its first concept sketches. This is a bike that combines bold style with cutting-edge technology. European styling meets sporty aesthetic in a motorcycle platform that pushes the definition of a cruiser to its breaking point. Whether it actually does destroy what you think of in a motorcycle cruiser is up to you. But is that a bad thing? Ducati's entry to the cruiser world represents the best of two worlds. The Ducati world: thrilling performance, sporty power, and advanced electronics. The cruiser world: long, low, forward positioned footpegs and powerful torque even at low speeds. Yet the designers didn't compro- mise in terms of materials and finishes. "The XDiavel is low speed excitement," Ducati says, "relaxed low-speed riding, typical of the cruiser, combined with the excitement and the adrenaline of sports riding that characterize every Ducati." The powerful and sophisticated XDiavel also features the latest evolutionary step of the Testastretta engine: the Ducati Testastertta DVT 1262. Or, as the company sums it up, 5000, 147, 40. Respectfully, the number of RPM at which the engine delivers maximum torque (5000), the er- gonomic configurations for the pilot (147), and the maximum lean angle in degrees for the bike (40). CYCLE NEWS CRUISER BUYERS GUIDE