Ducati XDiavel S First Ride Review

What do the Diavel and the XDiavel have in common? According to Ducati, aside from six letters in their names, only brake calipers and tires. So, despite the similarities of the names – and even in profile – Ducati calls the 2016 XDiavel the company’s first true cruiser. Don’t think of this as a boardroom construction meant to fill in a particular check mark on a manufacturer’s list of necessary products. As Claudio Domenicali, the Ducati Motor Holding SpA Chief Executive Officer, said just this morning over breakfast, Ducati doesn’t focus-group its bikes to death. Instead, the company builds the bikes it wants, the bikes that scratch a creative itch, and lets the chips fall where they may.

The XDiavel is a perfect example of the Ducati design approach. First, the designers decided what constitutes a cruiser as seen through its research of the American market. Next, the designers processed the information through the filter of Ducati styling, technology and performance to settle on what the key features would be. In the case of the XDiavel, the cruiser traits are relaxed, low-speed riding, the call of travel, and a feet-forward riding position. On the Ducati half of the DNA, signature Italian style crafted with the latest engineering and delivering a hefty dose of performance. This folding together of the somewhat contradictory design goals is what puts the X in XDiavel.