17 replies to this topic

[L.P.]

Ducati has categorized the Diavel as a Sports Cruiser, and after riding it for a while the first thing that I can say with confidence is, that the categorization is rather apt. Sharing the parts bin with its SBK sibling i.e. the 1198, the Diavel manages to churn out a very healthy 162 horses. However, sharing engine components with its sportsbike cousin doesn’t mean that it’s as agile. Having said that I still feel that the Diavel handles rather well for its size. It does not have a real rival in the market as of now owing to its unique shape, positioning and behavior.

The Diavel’s massive girth may be intimidating for many, but it’s quite manageable and light for its size. It’s no sportsbike, but makes you feel comfortable around corners, unlike some other similar sized cruiser. You need to have ample width and some experience if you want to lean on this one though. Diavel's fully adjustable rear and front suspension and awesome brakes along with its naked body make it a nice bike to ride in town.





However in a hot weather country like India, the Diavel does get heated up rather quickly, and you will see the temperature rising to 103 degrees within a few minutes riding in traffic. And god save you if you find a bumper to bumper traffic jam, the variety you get in big metros like Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore.

Having a great ground clearance and seat height of 30.3 inches helps a great deal on the Indian streets. At 207 kg, the Diavel, without doubt is heavy but it has been nicely balanced to not be too cumbersome for its rider. It’s no fly, but steady and balanced enough to react swiftly to direction changes, especially at slow speeds, a trait which is absolutely essential in a country like India.

With added benefits like Traction Control and riding modes like Sports, Touring and Urban with a maximum difference of 62Bhp the Diavel knows when to rear up and when to mellow down as per the rider’s requirements. The Sports mode employs full 162 bhp and DTC 1 Mode, Touring mode too puts all the horses to work, but with DTC level 3, and Urban mode employs only 100bhp with DTC 5. You have to press a little button on the left handlebar to toggle highlight various modes. Long press the button to choose a mode. The system will then ask you to close the throttle completely. Once you do that, you have selected your riding mode. This can be done easily while being on the move too.








The TFT screen is equipped with a lot of things delivering information in liberal volumes including the DTC on/off sign, riding mode indicator, gear shift Indicator and the current gear you are in. The gearshifts are extremely smooth and the gear shifter lever appears to have been dialing the inputs in a lump of butter inside. A wet slipper clutch system helps reduce harsh engine braking.

The braking on the Diavel is phenomenal. The radially mounted four piston Brembo calipers bite the large discs rather violently to tame this beast and the ABS is also programmable as per the rider’s choice into various Riding Modes. The steady suspension and balanced geometry of the bike gives Diavel impeccable stability on the road. No fairing, however, means that wind blast is an issue the moment you slightly past the triple digit speeds.


The Diavel also has its set of eye candies. The extremely bright LED backlights & indicators, brushed aluminium radiator shrouds, a bright TFT display, a small LED display over the number plate and the license plate mounted on the aluminium trellis swing-arm do make the Diavel all the more alluring.

The Diavel may be quite expensive, but it’s one of the most eye catching bikes you would ever buy. This is as exclusive as it comes. Diavel is as much a chick magnet, as it is a matter of envy for other big bike riders, even the SBK owners included. It’s like nothing else on the road. As the adage goes, love it, hate it, but you simply can’t ignore it.




pecification

Displacement: 1198.40 ccm (73.13 cubic inches)
Engine type: V2, four-stroke
Engine details: Type Testastretta 11°, L-Twin cylinder
Power: 162.00 HP (118.2 kW)) @ 9500 RPM
Torque: 127.50 Nm (13.0 kgf-m or 94.0 ft.lbs) @ 8000 RPM
Gearbox: 6-speed
Clutch: Light action, wet, multiplate clutch with hydraulic control. Self-servo action on drive, slipper action on over-run.
Frame type: Tubular steel Trellis frame
Front suspension: Marzocchi 50mm fully adjustable usd forks
Rear suspension: Progressive linkage with fully adjustable Sachs monoshock. Aluminium single-sided swingarm
Instruments: Handlebar mounted instrumentation with LCD display: speed, rpm, time, coolant temp. Warning lights for: Neutral, turn signals, high-beam, rev-limit, DTC intervention, ABS status, oil pressure, fuel reserve. Tank mounted instrumentation with TFT colour display: gear selected, air temp, battery voltage, trips 1 and 2, fuel reserve trip, average and actual fuel consumption and speed, trip time, scheduled maintenance. Full status and/or management of Riding Modes, DTC, RbW and ABS.
Seat: Dual seat
Factory warranty: 2 years unlimited mileage
Color options: Red, Diamond Black



Finally Your's Truly -




More Pictures Attached:

[razorBlades]

Thread Approved.

Awesome Pictures man, loved them. Wanting to read the entire thing now

[pulsurge]

One gorgeous motorcycle! Talk of attitude...this has it and with lots of grace!

[L.P.]

razorBlades, on 20 March 2012 - 09:19 PM, said:

Thread Approved.

Awesome Pictures man, loved them. Wanting to read the entire thing now

You gotta be kidding me, .

Thats the Entire thingy, If there is something you need to ask, feel free, wrote this much with so many efforts man, Damm!!!

[rahul_rn]

want to read now but dead tired, will read tomorrow in college, but have to say that your pics match the awesome look of the bike.. Complement each other well.. I am pretty sure if i see it once i may go

[Silver Phantom]

A comb thru the Hair would have made you as alluring as the bike itself..
Nice writeup Dude. Loved the Pics, as Usual...

[Revmaster]

Great images, and nice write up Nitin. Wouldn't have minded some more images though

[L.P.]

Silver Phantom, on 21 March 2012 - 01:52 PM, said:

A comb thru the Hair would have made you as alluring as the bike itself..
Nice writeup Dude. Loved the Pics, as Usual...

Carrying Comb should be Mandatory with a Helmet Anyways Thanks

Revmaster, on 21 March 2012 - 02:02 PM, said:

Great images, and nice write up Nitin. Wouldn't have minded some more images though

As the master Says

rahul_rn, on 20 March 2012 - 11:32 PM, said:

want to read now but dead tired, will read tomorrow in college, but have to say that your pics match the awesome look of the bike.. Complement each other well.. I am pretty sure if i see it once i may go

That is precisely why I wrote only important important things, not a lot.

pulsurge, on 20 March 2012 - 09:36 PM, said:

One gorgeous motorcycle! Talk of attitude...this has it and with lots of grace!

jeee, jeee, Jeee

[pulsurge]

Ahem....why don't you shift base to Mumbai

[Ricci]

Hmm, not a bike I would call good looking but I would hardly be complaining if someone gifted me one.
Of course if I had the money to buy one, there are other bikes I'd pick over this, which I'm sure would be tipping over 25 lac INR ?
162 hp on a naked bike, manufacturers are starting to put out big power numbers on nakeds, earlier they detuned them to bare over 100, often less than that on grounds of practicality ( read high speed windblast ). So how  fast could you get this beast up to ?

PS : if someone is planning to gift me this, please contact me first , you can get away with a cheaper gift

[rahul_rn]

^^^^
I had said this before and saying now as well, you are the only one i have seen who doesn't like this babe..

[arn]

Ricci, on 22 March 2012 - 09:00 PM, said:

Hmm, not a bike I would call good looking but I would hardly be complaining if someone gifted me one.
Of course if I had the money to buy one, there are other bikes I'd pick over this, which I'm sure would be tipping over 25 lac INR ?
162 hp on a naked bike, manufacturers are starting to put out big power numbers on nakeds, earlier they detuned them to bare over 100, often less than that on grounds of practicality ( read high speed windblast ). So how  fast could you get this beast up to ?

PS : if someone is planning to gift me this, please contact me first , you can get away with a cheaper gift

If somebody gifts you one, take a couple of rides, and get rid of it before you have to do any maintenance, or have to replace anything.

Those radiator shrouds cost 40K+




EACH.





And are sold as a set of two.


While I usually find Ducatis gorgeous and focussed machines, this.....looks like the designers forgot what they set out to make and put out something anyways, sort of like putting  1kg rasgulla, 1 kg kaju  katli and 1 kg balushahi mashing it all up and pointing to the unique taste.

[pulsurge]

Doc this still looks well packed...what would you say abt the earlier generation Monsters? Maggi noodles???

[L.P.]

pulsurge, on 22 March 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

Ahem....why don't you shift base to Mumbai

O chuupp Oye

pulsurge, on 23 March 2012 - 12:26 AM, said:

Doc this still looks well packed...what would you say abt the earlier generation Monsters? Maggi noodles???

^^ Killerrr !!

arn, on 23 March 2012 - 12:10 AM, said:

Those radiator shrouds cost 40K+
And are sold as a set of two.

While I usually find Ducatis gorgeous and focussed machines, this.....looks like the designers forgot what they set out to make and put out something anyways, sort of like putting  1kg rasgulla, 1 kg kaju  katli and 1 kg balushahi mashing it all up and pointing to the unique taste.

Doc: Point 1) 52K, Exshowroom for Both as a Set

Point2) You should be given an award to saliently condemn people and big companies, kya Dhootey ho aap, Baaid god, Ek dum Nirma Safedi Type :

[arn]

pulsurge, on 23 March 2012 - 12:26 AM, said:

Doc this still looks well packed...what would you say abt the earlier generation Monsters? Maggi noodles???

Dunno but that semi streamlined semi naked look.... makes no sense, nether does the 165bhp motor. This is an ugly bike IMO. Not saying that somebody else will not find it gorgeous, but I find it's looks yuck.

@LP: Arpandiv's riding partner had to buy one in Mumbai (a set). That's what he had to pay. Besides, what is anybody going to do with the 165 bhp and no fairing on the highway? Or a motor throwing out 100+ bhp worth of heat in town stop go traffic? Also, the chick magnetically attracted to the bike - where she sits...? Thats why I think this is a hopelessly confused design. Only good as a traffic light GP champion bike like the V max.

PS: As regarding  condemning big companies/ their products, when I write a review, it is to inform people, ie the prospective customers, to look out for issues a product might have, so that they can make purchase decisions with their eyes wide open. My responsibility is towards THEM. NOT the manufacturer who has a PR arm to sell the bike, and gushy, swooning, chamcha type journalists who will praise it to the moon as their primary responsibility is to get an advt from the manufacturer for their publication, secondary objective being to get more test rides of he same marque, preferably on a paid vacation overseas, educating the reader not being an objective at all. Another kind of review comes from the guy defending his purchase decision, full of praise, making it sound like that particular bike is the pinnacle of machine design.

No such chamcha review is going to come from me.

Guess it is up to the reader to decide which sort of review is more informative for him (and can help with his purchase decision)

Edited by arn, 23 March 2012 - 03:24 PM.