Ducati XDiavel – Ducati’s low slung performance cruiser scores a bigger engine
Introduction by Trevor Hedge
Ducati’s Diavel has been a great success for the Italian brand. Marrying true v-twin high-performance engines in low-slung cruiser style designs.
The Ducati difference to the cruiser market, however, comes with quality suspension, brakes and a moderate degree of lean angle not available on most cruiser style motorcycles. The Diavel was always going to be a hit, and Ducati have raised the stakes a little further for 2016 with the Ducati XDiavel and XDiavel S.
The XDiavel, Ducati say, ensures the “low speed excitement” typical of a Cruiser, and the adrenaline rush of sports riding that Ducati has made its own. That’s what the X in XDiavel stands for: the merging of two apparently separate, distant worlds on one bike, a superb combination where both are accomplished without compromise.
The XDiavel has a larger 1262cc engine than the regular Diavel, achieved through a longer stroke. Despite it’s larger capacity, with 156hp @ 9500pm the XDiavel produces six less horsepower than the regular 1198cc Diavel. The XDiavel also produces fractionally less torque, but there is only 1.6Nm difference between the two machines.
The major difference is where this maximum torque is delivered, while the regular Diavel requires 8000rpm on the tachometer to deliver maximum twist, the XDiavel is pumping its 128.9Nm maximum torque at only 5000rpm. That’s sure to make a huge difference on the road.
Ducati Australia are expecting first stocks of the 2016 Ducati XDiavel in February, and will retail the model for $27,490 (+ORC), and the 2016 Ducati XDiavel S will be priced at $32,490 (+ORC).
5,000, 60, 40. Three numbers that sum up the XDiavel concept
5,000 as in the rpm at which the twin-cylinder engine achieves maximum torque (13.1 kgm). Extremely low revs for a Ducati engine but perfect for a Cruiser. Moreover, at 2,100 rpm the XDiavel power unit already ensures a torque of over 10 kgm, with an extremely flat curve all the way to the rev-limiter. Yet the engine remains a Ducati engine through and through, with a maximum power of 156 hp and thrilling performance across the rev range.
To obtain that performance Ducati engineers pushed the Testastretta engine through its ultimate development phase to create the Ducati Testastretta DVT 1262. Increased engine displacement, together with the DVT (Desmodromic Variable Timing) system, results in delivery of full yet fluid torque at low revs, but ensures sports bike performance when the throttle is twisted wide open. Moreover, the design work on the Ducati Testastretta DVT 1262 has been meticulous: for example, relocation of the water pump inside the intra-cylinder V means the cooling system pipes are no longer visible on the left.
60, as in the number of different ergonomic configurations for the rider. The XDiavel provides vast scope for personalisation thanks to 4 different footrest positions, 5 different seats and three different handlebars. It’s also possible to fit a comfier passenger seat, even with a small backrest. All this, then, because comfortable riding means full “low speed excitement”.
Lastly, 40, as in the maximum attainable lean angle. The XDiavel is a Ducati and as such ensures dynamic performance and the thrill of a sports bike, but only when you really want to push it to the limit. Frame, suspension, brakes and the chassis set-up have been designed to maximise sports-style riding fun, but without compromising on the comfort and easy handling that are essential when exploring the highways at a more relaxed pace.
The XDiavel is the first Ducati to use belt-type final transmission. A must within the Cruiser world, this system has been developed for the XDiavel by Ducati engineers to ensure reliable, secure transmission of the power provided by the Ducati Testastretta DVT 1262. Belt drive offers the advantages of more silent running, cleanliness, reduced maintenance and the fluid throttle response one wants from a Cruiser.
Design and technology merge again on the Full LED light assemblies, which play a key role in the styling of the XDiavel.
Like all latest-generation Ducati bikes the XDiavel features the Bosch Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), which dynamically measures pitch and roll angles plus the speed of relative variations in attitude, thus raising performance and safety standards even further. This system, together with Ducati Traction Control (DTC), Riding Modes, Bosch Cornering ABS , Cruise Control and the innovative Ducati Power Launch (DPL) make the XDiavel a technological gem offering high performance and, above all, safety.
Available also as an S version, the XDiavel features a black-only colour scheme (on the S version the matt black becomes gloss). The bike also has the innovative DRL (Daytime Running Light) at the front, forks with DLC coating, Brembo M50 front brake callipers, a special seat and parts with machine-finished highlights. These include eye-catching alloy wheels and aluminium engine belt covers, given even greater allure thanks to the gloss black paintwork.
Ducati XDiavel Highlights
- Ducati Testastretta DVT 1262 engine
- Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) by Bosch
- Bosch-Brembo ABS 9.1MP Cornering braking system
- Adjustable suspension
- Riding Modes (Sport, Touring, Urban)
- Ducati Traction Control (DTC)
- Ducati Power Launch (DPL)
- Electronic Cruise Control
- Full-LED front and rear lights
- Dashboard with TFT display
Ducati XDiavel S Highlights
- Ducati Testastretta DVT 1262 engine
- Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) by Bosch
- Bosch-Brembo ABS 9.1MP Cornering braking system
- Brembo M50 front callipers
- Adjustable suspension
- Adjustable fork with DLC coating on the fork bodies
- Riding Modes (Sport, Touring, Urban)
- Ducati Traction Control (DTC)
- Ducati Power Launch (DPL)
- Electronic Cruise Control
- Full-LED front and rear lights
- Front headlight with DRL
- Dashboard with TFT screen
- Bluetooth module for infotainment system
- Seat with dual-material lining
- Machine-finished forged lateral frame plates
- Natural brushed-effect anodized swingarm
- 12-spoke machine-finished wheels
- Gloss black engine
- Machine-finished aluminium belt cover
- Rear view mirrors in billet aluminium
Personalisation packages
Ducati Performance offers an extremely broad accessory catalogue for the XDiavel. In addition to individual items, three dedicated personalisation packages are also available: Sport, Touring and Urban.
- Sport Pack: further forwards handlebars, handlebar plugs, fuel filler cap and forged aluminium rim set.
- Touring Pack: comfortable passenger seat, passenger backrest, magnetic tank bag and transparent Plexiglas screen.
- Urban Pack: rear brake fluid reservoir cover, billet aluminium footrests, billet aluminium frame plugs, billet aluminium handlebar end weights, brake and clutch fluid reservoir covers, billet aluminium clutch cover, phase inspection cover and Roadster nose fairing.
Design
Long, low, beefy, with modern lines and technologically advanced components. And, above all, sexy. That’s how the XDiavel designers at Ducati envisaged it when they came up with the first sketches. A bike conceived, on one side, with the Cruiser world in mind… and Ducati DNA on the other. A bike that takes the Cruiser concept into the future, offering nothing less than a true “Technocruiser”.
Proportions, shaping and details are all explicitly Cruiser. And everything offers a view of the Cruiser world as Ducati sees it.
The XDiavel has a unique silhouette. It captures the gaze, frames the full volume of the bike, balances it between the wheels and brings out the beauty of the engine: the new Ducati Testastretta DVT 1262. As the star of the show, the engine has been meticulously designed down to the very last detail. The overriding goal was to highlight the intra-cylinder ‘L’, the hallmark of every Ducati. The overall layout, the outcome of close teamwork between engineers and designers, is elegant and clean. The result is a futuristic exaltation of mechanics and technology, not just as performance-focused functional elements but also as pure beauty.
Extreme in its proportions, the XDiavel has deliberately been designed “element by element”. The frame, short and modern, is immediately recognisable as the classic Ducati Trellis frame. The steel teardrop tank inevitably brings to mind the Cruiser world, but retains the DNA of the Monster and the Diavel. The headlamp, an ultra-modern interpretation of the classic Ducati naked headlight, now features the innovative DRL, giving the bike immediate recognisability. And so on with tailpiece, silencer and seat: all elements that, observed individually, have their own appeal yet, together, produce an extremely harmonic, balanced whole. Just as a host of skilled musicians form an orchestra.
This painstaking work has seen Ducati give the entire XDiavel range one specific colour: black. Applied differently on the standard and S versions, the black is accompanied by red – Ducati’s long-standing trademark colour – and the same yellow that characterises the Ducati Scrambler, creating a new distinctive made-in-Bologna feature. The XDiavel is matt black (Dark Stealth), as are the engine covers and belt covers, while subframe and swingarm are Mineral Grey. The XDiavel S, instead, is gloss black (Thrilling Black) with a matt black stripe and red trim. On this version the entire engine is gloss black and the belt covers have been machined to leave the aluminium in view.
Ergonomics
The riding position tells you everything you need to know about a bike. That’s why, when the designers and engineers started work on the XDiavel, they did so with one clear aim: a relaxed riding position worthy of a true Cruiser. The seat had to be low and the footrests positioned forwards. And the ergonomics had to be modular to let riders fit themselves on the bike just as a tailor-made suit fits the body. That’s why the XDiavel footpegs can be adjusted to three different positions (+/- 22.5 mm with respect to the standard setting). Moreover, for those who like a racier riding position, a Ducati Performance “central footpeg” kit will be available as an optional feature.
When, instead, the designers conceived the handlebars, cables and wires were routed to allow fast replacement of as-standard bars with a further forward (+ 25 mm) or more retracted (- 25 mm) Ducati Performance option. With regard to the seat, in addition to the standard one with an above-ground height of 755 mm, Ducati Performance offers higher (+ 20 mm) and lower (- 10 mm) options, a wider, more comfortable version and a premium version featuring exclusive design and special materials.
Lastly, to keep the passenger as snug as possible, in addition to the standard seat a ‘comfort’ seat with backrest is available as a Ducati Performance accessory.
