It’s not quite a power cruiser, nor is it exactly a naked bike, and it certainly isn’t a full-on sport bike. What the 2019 Ducati Diavel 1260 S is, however, is a whole lot of fun. Photos by Milagro.
It?s big, muscular, powerful and aggressive, a styling mish-mash of crouching naked bike, sleek superbike and long, low cruiser, nicknamed–and then officially dubbed–by its creators: Diavel (“devil” in the local Bolognese dialect, where the Ducati factory is located).
Loathe to classify it with the c-word (cruiser), Ducati calls it a “disruptor,” which sounds plausible enough despite a bit of uncertainty as to exactly what market segment the Diavel is disrupting. Based on buyer demographics, that segment could be called “early-middle-aged guys who like to go fast on curvy roads but don?t want to fold themselves onto a superbike anymore.” I?m not a middle-aged man but the rest sounds good to me, and disrupting others? expectations is kinda my hobby so…hello, dark prince. For 2019, the Diavel gets the Testastretta 1262 DVT L-twin from the XDiavel and Multistrada 1260/1260 Enduro.
The original Diavel, launched in 2011 and powered by the 1,198cc Testastretta L-twin borrowed from the Multistrada 1200, left us “with more questions than answers” but delivered a “mind-bending,” superbike-inspired riding experience (read the full review here). With chain final drive, mid-mount controls, a 28-degree ...