Test Ride: 2011 Ducati Diavel

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

The first clue that the Ducati Diavel is an attention-grabber wasn’t when the driver of a Nissan “Z” sports car drove by me on Route 8 between Naugatuck and Waterbury (on April 9) and gave a thumb’s up. And it wasn’t when a guy walking back to his landscaping truck at a Canton gas station later that afternoon spied the Diavel, stopped and gawked. No, the first clue came earlier when Jack Meskunas, owner of Ducati NewRoc in New Rochelle, N.Y., hit the starter button on the carbon red model parked outside the dealership’s front door. At least it got my attention, sending the butterflies that had been stirring in my stomach into a rugby scrum.

First, some background. A few weeks ago, reading a post by blogger Michael Henry in Albany, I discovered that Ducati was loaning him a Diavel for a week; the model name being Bolognese dialect for “devil.” My reaction was to email John Paolo Canton, public relations manager for Ducati North America, with a good-natured jab: “Hey, what about me?” He quickly responded: “All you had to do was ask.” So, I did, and jumped the queue ahead of Henry.

(On the morning of April 9), I picked up the Diavel from Ducati NewRoc for a seven-day road test. Before being handed the key – to put in my pocket for safe keeping as the Diavel has a key-less ignition system – Meskunas gave me a primer on its operation. Step one is to push down on the kill switch, which activates the electronics. The split-level instrument cluster lights up with animated graphics. Meskunas noted that the bike has three different riding modes – Urban, Touring and holy sh… er, Sport.

Urban is for wet roads and around town. Touring is for, well, touring. Sport is for shredding whatever pavement that you choose. In the Urban mode, the bike cranks out 100 horsepower – or four times the horses that the Alistair Jones’ single-cylinder 1954 Sunbeam S7 Deluxe put out when I followed him down Route 7 from Falls Village to Kent the next day. Having a $20,395 MSRP loaner under my butt after signing the standard “you break it, you buy it” waiver, I figured it wise to play it safe for at least a couple of days.

The Touring and Sport modes on the Diavel produce a much heftier 162 horsepower, delivering it when it’s most needed depending on the setting. The spec sheet says the chain-drive, 456-pound Diavel will do 0-60 in 2.6 seconds. Before pulling out of Ducati NewRoc, I checked the setting, wished for a mode that said Playground, and opted for Urban. Yes, I was nervous. It was early in the riding season, my skills were rusty and the handiest road home was treacherous I-95. I did a gut check, factored in riding an unfamiliar beast in thick Westchester County traffic, and immediately went in search of The Hutch. The Hutchinson River Parkway to the Merritt Parkway would be smoother, less congested and safer.

The Diavel has an 1198cc L-Twin engine, a six-speed transmission and ABS brakes. All are very responsive, which didn’t help the feeling out process. Friend Dave Mastrogiovanni, who accompanied me to New Rochelle to drive my car home, later said my nervousness was clearly evident on The Hutch because while the bike leaned over on the curves, I didn’t. The bike’s upright riding position, easy to reach handlebar and nicely-pocketed seat helped, though, in making me comfortable in a short period of time. Dave noted that by the time we were halfway up the Merritt, my body language had changed dramatically.

By the time neighbor Bill Smith and I went for a ride (on April 11) – Harwinton to Thomaston, Morris and Litchfield – Bill wondered aloud whether it was the same guy riding the Diavel that he had followed behind on other occasions when I was riding a Harley-Davidson V-Rod and some BMWs. Yes, Bill, aggressiveness comes with knowing the machine and trusting it, and the Diavel is so sure-footed, despite having huge 240mm rear rubber, and so predictable when it comes to steering that it will improve the skills of any rider.

I was curious to ride the Diavel because of having previously owned a V-Rod, which is classified as power cruiser or muscle cruiser. Ducati has tried to avoid such labeling of the Diavel. To me, it’s still more of a sport bike than cruiser, but with a riding position that doesn’t make the back or knees ache. Two things I really liked about it, aside from the superb fit and finish and its handling, were the rear view mirrors, which actually show the road behind rather than shoulders and elbows, and the way the minimal front headlamp cowling and other scoops manage to eliminate much of the wind. I expected to be battered on the divided highways and wasn’t.

Less pleasurable was the stacked exhaust. Standing still and taking off, it has an authoritative roar, but the pleasure of its sound diminishes as the mile count climbs, and I managed to put more than 500 miles on the bike. If I owned a Diavel, I’d definitely buy earplugs. Gas mileage was less than 39 mpg and would be even less for someone more apt to roll on the ride-by-wire throttle.

It wasn’t until Thursday – rain washed out riding last Tuesday and Wednesday – that I rode the Diavel in Touring and Sport modes. Suffice to say that the power upgrade is noticeable. I’ll never be one to drag a knee, so I can’t report on the bike’s full capabilities. However, for any cruiser rider looking for more excitement or for any sport bike rider whose body is beginning to age, the Diavel is certainly the answer if you’ve got the cash. The base model in red is $16,995.

Most of the motorcycle magazines that I read have raved about the Diavel. The positive reviews are well deserved. Wherever I rode the bike this week, riders admired it. With the V-Rod, I often got a “What’s that?” response. With the Diavel, it was consistently “Wow!” That’s my reaction, too. It’s a devilishly fun bike.

(Originally published in “The Republican-American” on April 16, 2011.)