Ducati Diavel 1260 S First Ride Review: Dark Necessities

We are astride the sporty variant of Ducati’s “not-a-cruiser” here on home soil to see if it is a suitable fit for the Indian market

Story: Harket Suchde
Photography: Saurabh Botre

Yeah, you don’t know my mind
You don’t know my kind
Dark necessities are part of my design

– “Dark Necessities” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Diavel is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma shrouded in an identity crisis. The name literally translates into “devil” (in Italian) and it looks, for all intents and purposes, like a cruiser. It offers the kind of on-paper output that compels you to add the word “power” to the cruiser classification, which is when Ducati wade into the conversation and say ‘No!’ The Italians really don’t like their pet fiend being called a cruiser of any sort. This despite the fact that the Diavel started off as an attempt by the bikemakers from Bologna to elbow in on the lucrative American cruiser market. So, if not cruiser then what? How do you categorise this hell beast from Ducati?

A visual examination has the pendulum swinging very firmly in the direction of the cruiser. It may be a balls-to-the-wall design that’s a perfect balance between beautiful and bonkers, but you can’t deny that it very clearly looks like a blown-out power cruiser. That silhouette, so distinctive with the chunky tank, low riding saddle, mid-set pegs, high bars, and verging-on-ridiculous 240-mm wide rear tyre checks all the right boxes for a highway star, a long-distance runner with bulging muscles and a massive pair of lungs. Well, it would be, until you spot the Ducati badging on the tank, subtly integrated into the tank design. This isn’t your McDonalds scarfing, cola chugging ’Murican. This is a risotto-eating and espresso-sipping, high-fashion Italian. And it knows it too. Those lines — so clean, so bold, so exotic.