RIDE REVIEW I 2023 DUCATI DIAVEL V4
P78
Sport, Touring, Urban and Wet
mode, and two power modes
that include the full 168 horse
-
power and a 115 horsepower
level
accompanied by a softer
throttle response.
Inside the five-inch TFT
display sits the adjustment for
the four-stage traction control
and four-stage wheelie control,
three-stage cornering ABS and
power launcher, Ducati's up-and-
down quickshifter, and cruise
control, but no heated grips—
those you must buy for $397
out of the Ducati accessories
catalog, the same goes for tire
Jabel Hafeet. This is the only
mountain in the Emirate of Abu
Dhabi, with its elevation of 4098
feet, a little under a third of our
Pikes Peak, with its 6.64 miles
rammed into 60 corners contain
-
ing everything from dead stop
to
dead fast and everything in
between. I know, six miles is not
a long distance point-to-point, so
that's why we went up and down
about 10 times, like kids on the
latest rollercoaster. Oh, and the
police had kindly shut the road
down for us, so no speed limits
or oncoming traffic.
As such, this was the perfect
place to explore the outer limits
of those claimed 168 horses
hiding under the gas tank. It'd
been the best part of seven
years since I rode a Diavel, but
I always got along fine with the
model given the sportiness of
the chassis. Now in V4 guise,
that love was ratcheted up a few
notches.
This level of power in a mo
-
torcycle that looks like this is a
dichotomy
of the senses. You
don't expect it to go anywhere
near as fast as it does, but you
do expect its low-speed man
-
(Left) Foldable passenger pegs have
always been a Diavel feature. (Right)
The Grantourismo V4, first seen on
the Multistrada, is present in the
Diavel V4 with revised intake, airbox,
exhaust, cams and cam timing.
Five-inch TFT is plenty big enough but doesn't take away
from the minimalist style of the machine.
pressure sensors, which will set
you back $452 (plus labor to fit
them). And, sadly, the turn-by-
turn navigation, which at just
$80 on a $27K motorcycle, feels
like penny-pinching to me.
We were lucky enough to
experience the new Ducati
Diavel V4 in Abu Dhabi on what
can only be described as the
Pikes Peak of the Emirates,
