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New products: Ducati Diavel

Sympathy for the Diavel (with video)

The reminiscence of the good old title of the Rolling Stones comes to mind when you take a closer look at the design and technology of the new Ducati Diavel. Pleased to meet it – very pleased to meet you.

The term existed long before the Diavel and yet it seems that it is only convincingly embodied through it: muscle bike. Initially, this has nothing to do with engine power, although the Diavel mobilizes a powerful 162 hp. It is her no-frills power that makes her look like a well-trained boxer with the lowest body fat percentage. Typically Ducati: Even a motorcycle of cruiser-like length with a 1590 millimeter wheelbase turns out to be sporty.

E.There are two indications that this sportiness is not only external. Firstly, the weight: 207 kilograms dry. With a full tank of water, all lubricants, ABS and traction control it should come to 230 kilograms. The Diavel Carbon, which has carbon fiber parts and lighter wheels, is even lighter, but more expensive at 3,300 euros – the basic model already costs 16,690 euros.

New products: Ducati Diavel

Sympathy for the Diavel (with video)

Ducati is serious about sportiness, and secondly, it shows the choice of rear tire. It should be wide and still provide good steering properties. The chassis development began with a commercially available 240/40 R 18, but it soon became clear that the desired handling and comfort qualities could not be obtained with the flat contour of these tires. Together with Pirelli, the Ducati engineers therefore developed a 240/45 ZR 17. A diagram that MOTORRAD filmed from the video screen during the presentation in Milan and redrawn based on this template clearly shows that this 17-inch model is eight inches wide The rim has roughly the same rolling circumference as an 18-inch model. The flanks of the Diablo Rosso II, that’s the name of the Diavel tire, are, however, pulled down significantly. Its outline is more pointed when at rest, its deformation behavior in an inclined position is designed in such a way that the Diavel, despite its length, should waggle through alternating curves and show significantly less self-steering behavior on bumps. In addition, thanks to its larger cross-section, the Rosso II has more self-damping and better comfort behavior. "The central point was the powerful rear tire, the motorcycle was built around it, so to speak", said project manager Giulio Malagoli, and that seems only slightly exaggerated given the effort involved.

Ducati

This is how powerful the entire assembly looks with 240 tires and eight-inch wide rims.

This effort also includes the design of the swing arm, which, when fitted with a wide rear wheel and corresponding tire, has to absorb greater forces than with a narrower combination, because the chain runs further outside the tire, and the chain pulling forces consequently act over a longer lever arm. The sketch of the single-sided swing arm then also shows a complex technical sculpture in which every surface, every edge acts as an opponent of a line of force.

As Ducati testers assure and make driving shots believable, the Diavel has significantly more freedom from lean angles than power cruisers from Harley-Davidson, Victory or Suzuki. One of the keys to this is the low, 770 millimeter bench, but still reasonably high compared to the American U-700 ideal. It is thanks to her that Diavel riders can sit at a comfortable knee angle without having to attach the footrests far forward. This fact also contributes to the higher dynamics, because the driver has better opportunities to use his body weight more flexibly.

The CAD image of the Diavel frame tells a lot about the constructive path that Ducati is currently taking in chassis construction. Used for the first time in the renewal of the Monster, the principle of the hybrid frame with a steel tubular structure at the front and cast aluminum part at the rear has been significantly refined on the Multistrada 1200 and expanded to include the use of polymeric plastic elements in the rear frame of the Diavel. With all possibilities to integrate storage and battery compartments, cable channels and holding points, even the completely foldable passenger footrests with holders without additional expenditure we share. A comparison of the frame designs by Diavel and 848 or 1198 reveals those of the super athletes as old-fashioned. At the same time, it becomes clear how close a construction is now that combines a cast aluminum go as a steering head support and rear frame with a fully load-bearing engine (see MOTORRAD 1/2011). The only thing missing is the right motor. We will learn more about this later this year.

The Multistrada 1200 has also shown how versatile Ducati uses electronics, and the Diavel only makes minor, and in view of its narrower range of uses, reasonable compromises. There is no electronic adjustment of the spring elements, initially no adjustment options were provided. Instead, tea three different driving modes activate different performance curves and levels of traction control. In city mode, for example, the engine derived from the Multistrada only delivers 100 hp, in touring mode it delivers full power, but traction control intervenes earlier than in sport mode. The electronics take into account the lavish double instrumentation. Because the front of the Diavel towers high, even the display on the tank cover is easy to read.

Click here for the presentation video of Eicma 2010:

Unique, but not without a role model

Victory

Without any ambition for series production, the Core reveals the essence of motorcycling and is modeled on the Diavel.

There has never been a motorcycle like the Diavel before, there is no question of that. Of course, it is also undisputed that the Diavel could not arise without preconditions, without models and influences that its creators studied and absorbed. A sketch from the Ducati design department reveals a surprising connection between product and suggestion, which spontaneously reminded the editor of the Core. This study, presented in spring 2009 by the American manufacturer Victory, was intended to show what a motorcycle can look like that is consistently reduced to the elements necessary for driving. The name stands for core in English, so it’s about the innermost essence of motorcycling.

Obviously, the proportions of the core served as a starting point for the Diavel designers. However, the drafts may have been available to them before they were presented. Finally, Greg C. Brew, who designed the Core with Michael Song, "worked for an Italian motorcycle manufacturer from Bologna", before he became head of design at Victory.

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