We've been running a competition to win a Ducati Diavel for a couple of weeks. We've just announced the winner so we took the opportunity to take a look back at a great bike.
The gear box is not a pain in the ass. You know if you just let the clutch out slightly to the point were you can feel a bit of power then pull it back in and click up on the lever it will go into neutral every time super easy. Clicks right into neutral first time everytime. Every Ducati Testastretta is like that.
neutral is best selected while almost stopped, just before complete stop. This is the greatest / coolest bike ive ever owned. comfortable for long rides, fast as hell, beautiful sound, easy for pillion, steering lock, custom fuel maps, Mine has cruise control,. Ive never owned a bike that eveyone thinks is aweso.me
Yes, that confirms it! I was certain I met you at the traffic lights outside Dorking train station on my black cbr6. I thought no, he wouldn't be wearing that helmet! :)
Drop a tooth on the front sprocket like me. You can rocket out of corners at 45mph in sixth gear. Perfect for Southern California canyon roads. Spot-on about the rear end stepping out very predictably. The traction control works great. With it off, it's still fairly easy to save a stepped-out rear with skilled hands.
To me, one of, if not the primary, attribute of a cruiser is the feet forward position and the Diavel doesn't have it. The ergos on this are almost identical to my old Honda Nighthawk 750, which was quite a comfortable bike.
If you're used to Ducatis finding neutral is easy. On the Diavel, it's a very small quick tap up to get to neutral. Your Diave l can be different but most ducs have this neutral problem which isn't really a problem..just need to find the sweet spot.
i used to have 2011 Ducati Diavel Carbon ,i used to love it how ever i sell it because of the gear box. you cant find N. its 2017 you still cant find it :) lol typical Ducati.
That is really, really sad that finding neutral is such a problem for such an imposing, and otherwise fantastic bike. I sometimes have problems finding neutral on my XSR900 but not in the region of finding it annoying.
I don't get it to be honest, but then I figure Ducati was aiming for the Yank market, which is dominated by bikes which have no appeal to me what so ever..
Sorry, nice review but IMO those Diavels are just plain ponderous and ugly looking. The instrumentation looks rather plain and the exhaust sound is not the greatest. Huge unusable hp numbers don't impress me anymore. My little 100 hp (at the rear wheel), 400 lb Triumph STR (which has benefited from performance goodies over the last 5 years) is so good, so light, torquey, and fast in the twisties that I would not consider any other motorcycle. I do agree though that the Diavel would be fantastic on the dragstrip and wide open highways.
gwwayner you love it or hate it. Like binary system 0 or 1 😊 I have 2015 red carbon and one im gonna tell You... Accelerations is tremendous. Take free ride in dealer and chęci. Cya.
