2016 DUCATI XDIAVEL
FIRST RIDE
P78
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-enhanc-
ing dance between man and
machine, is intrinsically linked to
the Ducati brand. Ducati is aim-
ing this machine at the, let's say,
performance aficionado whose
sport bike days are long gone,
but his Harley days have not yet
arrived. And if Ducati has its way,
they never will.
The heart of the XDiavel is no
less than an absolute beast. Un-
der the teardrop gas tank sits a
version of the DVT (Desmodrom-
ic 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
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.
