Exactly twelve years after the launch of the very first Diavel, Ducati has put the superlative of its Powercruiser on the market: the Diavel V4. In the Belgian Ardennes, under changeable weather conditions, we got to know Ducati’s fourth V4 in an overwhelming way, an extensive version of which will soon be put online. Here are our first findings.
Named after the Italian word for devil, pronounced Dee-ah-vel in the Bolognese dialect, Ducati had clearly stepped outside its comfort zone in late 2010 with the unveiling of the Diavel. Reminiscent of how the Monster was 20 years ago, the Diavel continued the Borgo-Panigale-typical tradition of breaking new ground without encroaching on the brand’s heritage.
The aim of the gentlemen engineers at Ducati was to design an impressive appearance, lightweight and handling like any Ducati, which should take the man-bike relationship to the next level of comfort. Just say the über version of the Monster, with a big fat nod to American Cruisers. A Powercruiser on steroids.
The Diavel was unique in several respects. Unique in styling, somewhere between a Sportster, V-Max, B-King and Rocket III, unique in performance – with 162 hp it was immediately the most powerful Powercruiser on the market, which was even 12 hp stronger than the Multistrada 1200 from which the 11° Testastretta V-twin came – and especially unique in terms of rear tire. The Diavel was the very first production bike with a 240mm wide rear tire.
The Diavel turned out to be a bull’s eye, thanks to its unique design and its amazing steering characteristics: it was the very first Powercruiser that could be turned around the corner – and therefore a true Italian. In the spring of 2014, the Diavel received its first update as an early 2015 model, with the biggest difference being the second generation of the 11° Testastretta V-twin, which ran much better, had a more favorable consumption and a service interval of 30,000 kilometers.
The second generation was launched in 2019, with Ducati having exchanged the 11° Testastretta V-twin for the Testastretta DVT and changing the name to Diavel 1260, a reference to the larger displacement of 1,262 cc. Compared to the first generation, the Diavel had lost 3 hp, but was in turn 3 hp stronger than the XDiavel that was launched in 2016 and also had the 1,262 cc Testastretta block, albeit with 11° valve overlap instead the DVT.
After only four years, the Diavel 1260 has now had to make way for the Diavel V4, after the Panigale V4, Streetfighter V4 and Multistrada V4, the fourth model from Borgo-Panigale to be equipped with the V4 – where, as with the first Diavel, the V4 of the Multistrada was used as a donor heart. Unlike the first Diavel, Ducati has now somewhat skimmed the power of the 1,158cc V4 to 168 hp at 10,750 rpm compared to the Multistrada, but a moan that notices that difference.
That fat top power, a plus of 9 hp compared to the Diavel 1260, is of very little use in the morning. At night the rain came pouring down from the sky and in the morning there is also a small rain shower here and there, so that we limit ourselves to the Rain and Urban driving mode, the two driving modes in which the power is up to about 120 hp. is limited. That’s still more than enough to get along smoothly, but without it becoming intimidating and that is so reassuring in a wet and with 9° Celsius quite cold Ardennes.
The combination of cold & wet seems to have an effect on the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV tyres, which are a lot better than the first generations, but still hate cold and wet. Sending in is anything but automatic, you can feel from everything that the tire has clearly not yet reached its operating temperature. On the other hand, the V4 in Rain and Urban delivers its power very nicely and linearly, and is also quite strong, making the engine super easy to drive – apart from that sulky turn-in.
When, towards the end of the morning, the part of the Ardennes that has not reached the rain clouds is reached, a modest sun is high in the sky and the new 5″ TFT display indicates that the outside temperature has now risen to a pleasant 14° Celsius , you can finally switch from Rain to Road mode with peace of mind. What feels like the doors to hell have suddenly been opened wide. Nondedju, what a power, not normal.
However, flexibility is strange to the V4, Ducati has done everything possible to give the V4 the character of a V-twin, which means that even in second gear the block must be kept above 2,000 rpm at least, preferably 2,500-3,000 rpm. As with the Multi V4, the rear cylinder bank can also be switched off with this Diavel V4, but it has gone a step further. Not only stationary, but depending on the position of the throttle, only the front bank of cylinders is used up to 4,000 rpm.
The pace is increased at times on the sometimes surprisingly good quality roads, which shows me that the Diavel V4 still has the same tricks as the first Diavel: the harder you kick it, the better it seems to be in his element and the better it sends. Ducati has moved the handlebars 2cm further back and also increased the seat size 2cm at the rear, creating a more relaxed fit, but ironically you want to sit more forward when the pace gets thicker .
So much for our initial findings, an extensive test will soon go into the matter in depth.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.