DEVIANT DUCATI

When Ducati move away from their well-known sports bike tradition, the result is a crossover called XDiavel. We rode this ‘true cruiser’ on the picturesque Highway 94 alongside the Mexican border near San Diego in southern California

TROLAND BROWN

But the XDiavel has just carved through a series of bends feeling taut and wellcontrolled even when cranked well over with the heel of my boot brushing the road. And now there’s open road ahead so I’ve wound back the throttle, and those bars have almost been ripped from my hands as a stonkingly torquey, 1,262-cc DOHC V-twin engine has sent the bike charging to 200 km/h in seconds, making a soulful induction moan that is adding to the fun. Cruiser? Maybe, that’s what this mean black V-twin is by the standards of Ducati, whose advertising for the Diavel, by contrast, insisted, “Don’t Call Me A Cruiser”. But by traditional cruiser standards the XDiavel is more of a

MILAGRO

crossover model, as even the Bologna factory admits. Hence the X at the front of its name.

This bike is certainly not a traditional Ducati, and there’s a good reason for that. The firm is very aware of the need to diversify further from the shrinking sports bike market, hence recent models, including the entry-level Scramblers and Multistrada 1200 Enduro. The Diavel made a start towards the cruiser sector on its launch in 2011, and now the XDiavel goes the whole… well, whatever the Italian word is for “hog”.

Ducati’s approach this time is much more direct. The development team spent several months in California, riding