I haven’t had a chance to ride for a little while due to a very busy schedule and traveling recently but I had to make time this past Friday morning. Please welcome the new addition to my stable, the Ducati Diavel, I really do think of my bikes in a stable because they each have a spirit of their own. This is the Carbon Red addition which I think is the sexiest of the bunch. When I heard that Ducati was making a sport cruiser, it peaked my interest but when I saw it, I went overboard, I couldn’t believe my eyes, it is such beautiful machine, and I love it lines, but pictures don’t do it justice.

I met up with Kubayashi at 7 am on Friday morning, his bike was being serviced so I told him to take Diablo out instead, and I found it fitting for the Diavel to be out with his older sibling. The Diavel my be categorized as a Sport Cruiser but Ducati are known for building fast machines and this bike is NOT slow. The first thing whenever you make a purchase is to read the manual, and in my case I was out the door on the road without a clue where the manual was, I was excited like a little kid in a candy store, like any man I pressed a few buttons, pushed a few levers, and assumed I knew what I was doing, then hit the road. I tried to make sure that I kept a level head when riding, I had to ride it for at least 100 kms to break it in initially, and that includes the tires so I get that protective layer of it, and then there was breaking in the engine and the gear box. I made sure to take it easy and keep it under 5000 rpm, and it can rev up to 11000 rpm which is pretty high, I would push it every once in a while and slowly keep increasing speeds around corners.

When I was riding it I was very surprised about a few things, it turns very easily and feels very light, I was taking turns much slower but I wanted to learn how the bike feels and reacts. The best thing about it is the brakes, it stops on a dime and has the brakes of a sport bike, when you squeeze those brakes it comes to a stop very very quickly. Plus those beefy tires give you a lot of grip and confidence around the corners, and to my surprise they were Pirelli Diablo Rosso IIs which are used for sports bikes, and this what Pirelli calls them “The Ultimate Sports Tire For Absolute Road Abuse”, these aren’t cruising tires, they have a lot of grip and they are on this machine.

Then there is computer system on the Diavel which surpassed my expectation, you have two screens, the one above which gives you your normal detail such as speed, rpm, and distance, and the second color lcd screen which is basically a computer. You can change your bike settings from mild to wild, and there three basic settings but you can customize it completely from the amount of Horsepower available to the DTC which is the Ducati traction control system leve, from full DTC to completely switching it off.

Ducati have made a perfect cruiser, I am person that doesn’t like riding slow or a slow machine, and this is a very well built machine, it goes fast and stops quick when needed. I was never really a cruiser guy but this not a cruiser, its a Ducati Diavel and its built out of passion from Italy, I love this machine and the way it looks. The LED integarted signals and brakes, the beefy tire, and the 162 bhp 1200 cc engine. I can’t wait to tweak it with a few parts and enjoy the ride.