2014 Ducati Diavel review

[Autech]

Hi all

Thought I would post up a review about the Diavel which I was kindly lent for a month in Canada by a very generous sort. I did in total around 1500ks on it and rode it most days so it gave me a good idea what one would be like to live with.

At the outset I had never ridden a bike as heavy as the Diavel or in that "Style" which I have deemed the "Sports Cruiser" so the following is biased by what a sports bike rider would find (I think) on a big beast.

The good:
Engine - When it come to holy fuck experiences the Diavel did deliver with it's massive torque leading into a not too shabby 162 hp. Basically felt like no matter what gear I was in, if I opened it up it felt like my shoulders would dislocate. My favourite was on a closed road leaving it in 3rd gear and accelerating from 70-170 which was as far as I was willing to go on a closed Quebec road.
Also sounded great and was nice n steady at 40kmph on city streets. Depending on what mode you have the bikes electrics set to of course. In sport mode it left a few black lines on Montreal streets as I had a little fun.

Looks - Truly stunning bike to look at, got lots of attention as most the locals are on Harleys and there are very few Euro bikes around, felt great parking it outside Tim Hortons for a bagel. I could look at it for hours.

Handling - While I am used to a nifty 400 to flick about on the track, this bike surprised me with how easy it was to get around some of the tighter bumpy streets of Montreal. On the open road in Canada most of it is highways, I did however find a few "Twisty" (by Canadian standards) roads to have some fun on. It did seem to amble into the corners a bit, but I got around all of them and never felt like I was gunna run wide. Bear in mind I weigh fuck all so I couldn't rely on my body weight to shift the bike around too much. If it were my bike I would have softened up the suspension a bit to allow for my skinny arse.

Comfort - Having never owned a bike this cruisy I was amazed that after an hour and a half ride on it I felt like I could go another hour and a half. My gixxer600 used to snap me in half and I'd walk around like I'd been rogered for a bit after that longer ride. Wife said it was nice to ride on the back of.
Only thing it needed was a small screen, I rode another Diavel (Carbon) while there which had a screen and it made the highway so much more bearable.

The bad

Gearbox - SOOO MANY FALSE NEUTRALS! Now this bike had been dropped on the left hand side which may have caused some damage to the shifting forks etc, So don't take this as verbatim that all diavels gearboxes are shit. The other Diavel I rode's gearbox seemed better but the owner claimed it also found the old false neutral. If I had forked out the cash to buy this bike, it would have been back at the dealers pronto to get rectified, a 1 year old bike with 5000ks on shouldn't get stuck between gears that often. Was worse than my 1988 VFR400!

Electronics - I think this bike has too many things to go wrong, the keyless starter acted up big time after I rode it through a thunder storm. That and the high beams would come on randomly occasionally of their own accord and the only way for me to shut them off would be to turn off the bike and start her up again. Once again if I owned this particular bike it would be back at the dealership getting sorted.
That said the ABS, traction control and variable power were fantastic tools. I would run it in Sport mode when I was on my own having a blast, Touring when the Wife was on board (this made the throttle less twitchy) and once when in a massive Thunder and Rain storm I got caught in; Urban mode (100hp and full TC) gave me the piece of mind that I could focus on riding the bitch without it spinning up if I cocked up.

As my first Ducati experience I will sum it up thus, some days I loved the bike, it was perfect for the type of riding I was doing and a blast to ride. Other days when it would take 10 attempts just to find neutral at the lights yet would find neutral when you least expected it (between 3rd and 4th) quite happily I thought it was an overpriced pile of shit.

Would I buy one?
Yes and no, would depend on the reliability of the electrics, I do want to get something down the line for two up riding, but I think the gas tank size and the lack of places to mount pack racks and paniers would stop me. That and I think it would be a shame to strap anything on to such a beautiful bike. This is all assuming that I could ever afford one as a 2nd-3rd-4th bike at some stage in the future.

Thanks to all that read this.

[Dogboy900]

Thanks for that. I have seen a few around and like the look of them for a "cruiser" type bike. Always wondered how they went and perhaps more importantly handled. Not thinking of buying one but you have satisfied my curiosity somewhat.

[jim.cox]

Reliable Italian electrics ?

Dream on

[AllanB]

Surely that gearbox is full of 'character' .........


Good review - they haul arse well.

[Autech]

Surely that gearbox is full of 'character' .........


Good review - they haul arse well.

Well that is it in a nut shell:
I think you would buy a Japanese bike with your head and a Ducati with your heart. Your head tells you that Japan makes better bikes in general, but your heart loves the ladder frame, sound and "soul" of a Ducati. Character.

They certainly haul arse, so nice to be able to give it the beans without worrying about the front wheel overtaking your head at some stage.
That is when it isn't wheel spinning that is, on one memorable occasion I gave it the beans in 1st and nothing happened, just a whole lot of noise. Was a tad confused until I looked behind me and saw the smoke that I had left behind, now that is TORQUE!

[Trade_nancy]

Well that is it in a nut shell:
I think you would buy a Japanese bike with your head and a Ducati with your heart. Your head tells you that Japan makes better bikes in general, but your heart loves the ladder frame, sound and "soul" of a Ducati. Character.

They certainly haul arse, so nice to be able to give it the beans without worrying about the front wheel overtaking your head at some stage.
That is when it isn't wheel spinning that is, on one memorable occasion I gave it the beans in 1st and nothing happened, just a whole lot of noise. Was a tad confused until I looked behind me and saw the smoke that I had left behind, now that is TORQUE!

Jappas are not best as a total rule. They do put together fast and...often cheaper bikes. How? Well for example in my son's VTR twin - they use small WWII surplus hand grenades in place of cam chain tensioners. So when the cheaply built unit's internal cheap arsed spring snaps....expense...and two weeks of my spare time rebuilding....whereas my Triumph triple motors have much more robust tensioners...maybe Ducati too? All adds up to a bigger $$$ on the sale price...I guess.

[OddDuck]

+1 on Jappas being a nightmare to work on - granted all my experience is from older Hondas, but my gawd they got the anger going sometimes. Everything you want to get at is behind something else. You end up having to take half the bike apart for almost any non-regular job... it's a nightmare experience once they start getting old and needing one thing after another sorted out.

Thanks for the review - really good to read the good with the bad. Way more honest than the normal press review!!

[skippa1]

Nce bike, a lot of money but i would if i could

[Ender EnZed]

Jappas are not best as a total rule. They do put together fast and...often cheaper bikes. How? Well for example in my son's VTR twin - they use small WWII surplus hand grenades in place of cam chain tensioners. So when the cheaply built unit's internal cheap arsed spring snaps....expense...and two weeks of my spare time rebuilding....whereas my Triumph triple motors have much more robust tensioners...maybe Ducati too? All adds up to a bigger $$$ on the sale price...I guess.

Yeah, Triumphs are definitely more reliable than Hondas.

[caspernz]

1500 clicks in a month...interesting, for most would cover that in a serious riding weekend. The power and torque are nice though, just a shame the rest of the bike is mostly a styling exercise. Then again, my Busa is common yet not exactly an everyday bike either. Just as well we don't all have the same tastes.

The cool thing about having the chance to try a different bike for more than just a test ride is you get to form a better opinion. Now to have the money for that 2nd, 3rd or 4th bike in the garage huh...

[Autech]

1500 clicks in a month...interesting, for most would cover that in a serious riding weekend. The power and torque are nice though, just a shame the rest of the bike is mostly a styling exercise. Then again, my Busa is common yet not exactly an everyday bike either. Just as well we don't all have the same tastes.

The cool thing about having the chance to try a different bike for more than just a test ride is you get to form a better opinion. Now to have the money for that 2nd, 3rd or 4th bike in the garage huh...

Might have been closer to 2000ks, bear in mind that I was on holiday visiting family and had the odd trip away in a cage (one to NYC for a few days) and most my riding was done around the south shore of Montreal, oui oui!

That is why I chose to do this review and share my experiences with the kiwibiker community, when I first spotted the Diavel I immediately put it on my to ride list never knowing that one day I'd get a whole month to enjoy one (insert rich relative here). Coming from a strictly sport bike background I thought a few would be interested in what I had to say on it. Dare I say it but it gave me the slightest taste of what draws people to (shudder) Harleys. If they are anyway near as torquey down low and as easy to cruise about on... But lets not go down that path. What I would love now is to take a VMAX for a blast as that is to my knowledge the only bike similar to the Diavel in terms of styling and riding purpose. Anyone got one I could borrow?

I already have the 2nd bike, all I need now is to refill bank account after a long month away and to see if I could slip a Diavel into the garage without the wife noticing