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/1162518
2019 DUCATI DIAVEL 1260 S R I D E R E V I E W P100 effective eight-stage TC/traction control available as the specially- developed fat rear Pirelli digs into the asphalt, and the Ducati rockets forward in a way one of the company's V-twin Superbikes would have a hard time matching. This is fun factor 45—a guaran- teed smile bike that's both more civilized than before, but arguably does so completely and starts to pick up revs really strongly. This encourages you to use that sweet- action two-way clutchless power shifter to keep the engine revving by using one gear lower than you might otherwise do, for maximum effect. But it pays to switch pretty seamlessly between urban and the other modes, depending on riding conditions—and on whether you feel ready for a little excitement, or just want to chill out and cruise. The new Diavel 1260 is happy to cooperate whatever your choice. (Right) It's a wonder of modern engineering and tire technology that something with a rear tire this big handles this well. (Below) More power, more torque. More is definitely more with the new Diavel. Steer in, power out The original Diavel understeered quite noticeably under power, pushing the front end in a way that asked you to use that wide handlebar to correct matters and pull it back on line without backing off the throttle. The culprit was probably that fat rear tire, but the 1260's revised steering geometry and weight distribution has fixed that com- pletely—in fact, the new Diavel does the opposite! If you motor through a tight turn on part throttle, it'll understeer slightly just like before when hard on the gas—but since it now does this at low speed, this isn't too much of an issue. But if you use that one gear lower and drive through the bend under power, it totally resolves the under- steer and makes the Diavel hold its line tightly. Job done! But as anyone who'd ever ridden one will tell you, the even faster, too, aided by that stretched wheelbase and balanced weight bias, which combine to counter the front wheel lifting as you leave high-performance su- percars trailing in your wake, let alone any- thing else with half their number of wheels. This is a power cruiser with attitude. However, if you try to gas it wide open anywhere below 4000 rpm in Touring or Sport modes, you'll encounter what, thanks to the fueling, verges on being transmission snatch on full throttle, which only partially smooths out on part-throttle. Urban mode is notably smoother and more forgiving at lower revs, but in the other two modes the Diavel motor starts to smooth out above four grand, and at 4500 rpm it