Greased lightnin'

It’s not as simple as climbing on, starting up and setting off, though. 

 

Here you’ll find an electronic suite with traction and wheelie control, different riding and power modes, cruise control and a power launch feature, among other things. Me? I left it in “sport” mode. Is there any other, really? 

 

One might bemoan this blizzard of tech in lesser bikemakers, some of whom seem to throw that stuff on there to say to their younger future clients, “Look! We’re not stuck in the 90s! See that ‘plug’ for your ‘cellular telephone?’” 

But with the $23,195 Diavel 1260 S (there’s also a base 1260 starting at $20,295), it only adds to the ferocity and style we expect from our paisans at Ducati. 

The signature Tetrastretta L-twin, 1262cc, 160 hp engine is ready for action, with your top speed around 169 reported MPH. It’s also good an’ loud, but not loud enough to piss off neighbors when you roll in at 1:30 AM. 

 

It’s a power cruiser with the foot pegs in the standard position, so get on and get going after you negotiate the tech and you’re gold. You’ll go from 0-60 in something like 2.5 seconds. You also can lean, lean, lean as you please, an any bumps you encounter pretty much disappear, so no back pain when you’re through. 

My riding method over a week in Los Angeles was mostly steady as she goes, no treks out of town to the hills. The Brembo brakes instantly stopped me and were so much fun that occasionally I did the tap, tap, tap, jerk, jerk, jerk thing just to feel their might when cruising up to red lights. (Yes, I’m four years old.) There is also a particularly exquisite feeling of being balanced. Get on the motorcycle, get off, push it forward, back it up, all easy despite its weight of 586 pounds, even if you’re not a big lug.

 

It’s got a variable-timing feature coupled with Ducati’s singular Desmodromic valvetrain and you move through your gears with ease, with neutral, predictably, difficult to find at times. Four-valve heads crank open your combustion chamber, aspirating the hell out of the engine, so off you go lickety-split even if you cluelessly try to start from a dead stop in 3^rd gear as we all do from time to time. This thing just likes to go fast. Even when you’re doing 15 MPH on local streets, you feel like the fuse is lit. When buying, you can also get “proposed Ducati Performance accessories packages.” Talk to your dealer.

 

One peculiarity, though.

The key fob needs not go in any slot, and that’s a great thing. Unlike last year’s XDiavel, which didn’t recognize my key when it was in the side pocket of my jacket, the 1260 S knew it was me whether fob was in jacket, backpack or what-have-you. But to activate the motorcycle requires you slip a thumb and index finger in between the tank and cockpit, followed by a turn-and-twist. 

The space surrounding this twist-knob is miniscule. Wedging two fingers into this slot required patience and practice to smoothly accomplish, and sometimes it was a nuisance. It reminded me at times of trying to find something that’s fallen in between a car seat and the center console. Squeeze them fingers! 

The concept itself, though, is inspired, especially when you have to bounce around neighborhoods on a variety of errands. You stop the bike, get off and walk away while slipping off your helmet, you do your business, climb back on, squeeze your fingers into that little space to twist the little button, crank up and off you go. 

How much did I love the bike? In the minutes leading up to its return, I kept riding it around and around the neighborhood to nowhere, simply enjoying the mild temperatures of Brea, California, where my Air BnB was, and trying to make it all last. It can’t last, of course. 

Ducati is like a band that keeps releasing new material equal to their early stuff and one never thinks: “It’s ok but it’s not as good as what they were making in 2006.” Each new bike is a new step forward. In a motorcycle market that’s getting clobbered, that’s great news.

- Josh Max

Check out our inventory of the 2020 Diavel 1260 S for yourself.