Yeah, absolutely! Dunno why they didn't fit it to this or the other Diavel to be honest. Spoke to one of the guys in the Dealership and he was just as puzzled why they didn't do that. Or at least fit an Ohlins to the 'S' version. They did do that with the Diavel Cromo but that was pretty short lived.
Had a ride on one yesterday down at Moto Rapido while my SF was having a new instrument panel fitted. Didn't have any problem with the high beam switch (never have on my 1290 SDR either). I didn't find the suspension overly firm either. Cruiser ergonomics do mean you feel more of the road. But I do think that cool looking fat rear tyre makes its presence felt more than it does on the original Diavel. Immediately on setting off the steering felt miraculously light and it was incredibly flickable. Plenty of grip too. BUT leant over under the throttle on fast sweepers it understeers very noticeably. Throttling on and off when you're up on the side of that wide tyre sees it sit up/tip over, sit up/tip over with the beginnings of a weave. I don't think its actually the tyre necessarily but the amount of rake in conjunction with the tyre. It could probably be helped considerably with a suspension set-up but it would be a better bike with a 200 section rear tyre with a sports touring rather than a hot rod profile and a degree less rake. might not look as cool but it would work better. It wouldn't stop me buying one. Its a cruiser. If you want sports bike handling you buy a sports bike and you can overcome it by adjusting your riding style. But I don't think it handles as sweetly as the original Diavel or inspires the same confidence. Loved the engine. I too noticed quite a lot of vibes radiating upwards from the footpegs and through the tank at about 4500/5000 revs. Its the only DVT engine I've ever ridden so I can't compare. Again it wouldn't sop me buying one. My KTMs vibe more than that. All KTM twins do. They have a raw, buzzsaw quality which makes them feel like off-road competition engines and that's part of the character and it doesn't bother me in the least. I was just surprised to find these vibes in a usually smooth desmo twin. Its still massively less vibey than a Harley though not as smooth as the 1600 Triumph twin. I didn't really miss the low speed thudding, which some people have felt lacking in the DVT mill but it is far too quiet (£2000 for the Termi which is essentially just a one-piece collector with a slash cut outlet on each side is an awful lot of money. At least with the Akra system for the Superduke you get a complete full length titanium replacement, link and headers included for the same money). I liked the state of tune of this engine though. Its perfect for this sort of bike. Its just smooth, easy thrust and seamless acceleration with no holes, no flat spots and no surprises and it never felt lacking (I only rode it in Sport mode). I could settle into that comfy seat and catapult myself to Scotland in a heartbeat, though where I'd put my luggage I've no idea. In fact that engine in that state of tune would be brilliant in a Supernaked. Haven't ridden the 1200R Monster so can't compare, but on a naked you don't need a soaraway top end. You can't use it with the lack of protection - or not for long anyway. But you do want massive midrange and easy town manners low down if its got a sporty riding position. The xDiavel engine in a Streetfighter would be a hooligan's delight. I had none of the expected back problems with the feet forwards riding position. If anything I'd have liked the bars and inch further forward which I gather can be done with a flatter bar option. I did feel I was being pushed up and out of the seat under hard acceleration though. More lumber support would be good for me. A slightly lower seat too because I found my knees were being forced apart by the tank and I had to make a conscious effort to keep them together. An inch lower seat and they would sit more snuggly in the tank scallops. Riders with shorter legs would probably have no issues. Overall a great bike that looks a million dollars with excellent if quirky handling, a fabulous engine and good comfort but not quite the armchair luxury of some true custom cruisers. Would I buy one? No. Not at 17 grand. If I were tempted I'd go for the cheaper dark version which I think looks just as good and spend the 2.5K saved on an exhaust system and a suspension set-up. I get it and I like it but if this was my thing I'd have to do a back-to-back test ride against the original Diavel before I made my mind up.
I guess they would say that is what the original Diavel is. I'm surprised they're still producing it. Perhaps they're waiting to see how the XDiavel takes off. Though the original does have a bit of a cult following. I for one would be sad to see the old 1198 engine disappear.
That's a double no then. Another thing I noticed was that on the 65 plate demo bike a lot of the plain zinc coated fasteners were going furry as was some of the exposed milled aluminium on the swinging arm and several of the black fasteners had gone rusty. This on a bike that's washed regularly and kept in a heated showroom. Are these the same finish quality problems which some Multi owners are complaining about?
I was looking @ the dealers demo enduro, it's done only couple hundred miles and fook me the discs were ginger with rust and fasteners tarnished .
They are two completely differently styled bikes. I like the styling and engineering to the X Diavel better than the normal Diavel, that's all.
Don't think dealers are allowed to sell their demo bikes yet. one is private the others are dealers taken in part ex. Two others were sold last week.
My local Ducati dealer said their demo X Diavel will be up for sale very soon after I had a ride on it today, they quoted about £1.5k off list price.....
I bought an XDiavel S two weeks ago. It's a hoot. I absolutely love it. I never thought it'd be my cup of tea at all but I find it a lot of fun to ride. The noise from the Termis top it off.
Just for the hell of it. I've had my X since May last year. I went for the non-S cuz I like the matt black look and it's cheaper. I swapped it for a 2015 Diavel (had a multistrada before that). So I've ridden both, the Diavel for 10000 miles and this one for close to 5000 now. In terms of ownership, I think the normal Diavel handled more like a "normal bike" and the X took a bit of getting used to before I trusted it to hold a bend as well as the old one. The normal bike IMO was more "fun" than the multistrada before it because the multi was sooooo good you had to be riding at stooopid speeds to find it's limits. The Diavel gave me more "engaged" ride. I felt more heroic through bends even if I was probably slower. The X was more of the same but different again. Once I'd fiddled with the susupension so that it didn't jar so much and put about 500 miles of French roads on a 500 mile mini-tour I was happily grinning from ear to ear as the pegs deck out through the bends. Got a bit more bump steer with full luggage on than I wanted but I could have adjusted that out if it bothered me that much. I normally fall in the "driving aids are making rubbish riders" camp. But believe me, the X saved my arse as I came into a bend too hot, pegs touched down, I stood it up in a kneejerk reaction just as the bend tightened a smidge more. I pushed it back down but ran out of tarmac and onto the grass verge. The "you've been a dick" lights did a little disco and I came to a relatively controlled halt back on the tarmac. No idea how, but I am convinced the gadgets saved me from an expensive and painful discussion with some trees. The old Diavel was a reliability nightmare for me. Failed fueul sensore, failed keyless start, failed pin override button, failed rear shock and at just under 10000 miles a failed motor (valve dropped on M27 on the way to the garage to get a separate fault fixed). So when it wasn't at the garage, it was great fun. The X runs much cooler in town and it's giving me 52mpg on my commute (mostly urban). I got about 55 mpg on a tour that mixed bumbling and behaving like a hooligan. The old one never did more than about 43mpg. I know you don't buy these for economy but it was a nice bonus. So far on the X I have had condensation in an indicator and it has burnt almost 2 liters of oil which is a bit worrying but that level of oil burn seems to be tailing off. We'll see........ The X is better to tour on than the Diavel IMO in terms of comfort, conversation starting, and fuel use. I added some canvas loops under the pillion perch and can get a Kriega R30 and R20 stacked up on there.
