Italian powerhouse Ducati hit MY2019 with an all-new pair of Diavel models for the sport-naked sector, the Diavel 1260 and 1260 S. Both toe the family line for aesthetics, and they run the same Testastretta powerplant. Performance and safety go hand-in-hand with a number of top-shelf electronic goodies to help you keep all that power under control. These bikes are truly rolling tributes to Ducati's ingenuity, and the best is under the hood hidden away from plain sight.

2022 Ducati Diavel 1260 Performance and Capability

The bulk of electronic goodies lies in engine-control augmentations. The overlap in safety equipment continues with traction control, riding modes, power modes, and wheelie control.

Both run cruise control as well as the Ducati Power Launch feature, but of course, the “S” goes to the top shelf for an up-down Quick Shift and Ducati Multimedia System. That's a lot to take in, but it's safe to say that the factory doesn't intend for you to want for lack of safety support.

The powerplant itself is a liquid-cooled Testastretta L-Twin engine that rocks Ducati's hot new variable-timing feature alongside the signature Desmodromic valvetrain. Four-valve heads open up the combustion chamber for efficient aspiration with dual spark plugs to ensure positive flame-front propagation and near-complete combustion.

Majorly over-square, the mill runs a 106 mm bore and 71.5 mm stroke with a sizzlin' hot, 13-to-1 compression ratio and 1,262 cc displacement. Ride-by-wire inputs control a pair of 56 mm, elliptical throttle bodies complete with Bosch fuel injectors to manage the induction.

Of course, the request at the right wrist has to run the gantlet of sub-systems before it turns into action at the butterfly valves. Such is the life of the technologically advanced, yeah?

No matter how fancy the gadgetry gets, it's the visceral, even primal exhilaration we get from great power that still drives the emotions here. In bikes, emotions matter.

The Ducati Diavel produces 95-pounds of torque that comes on fully by 7,500 rpm, but the real star here is the 157-horsepower top end that caps at 9,250 rpm on the U.S. version. That's right sports fans, the Diavel siblings are well into power-whatever range, but the line has never been about the “all-show and no-go” angle.

Power flows through a slip-and-assist clutch to prevent excessive backtorque from breaking the rear-end loose on hard downshifts. It then filters through the six-speed transmission and heads down to the rear wheel via the tough chain-type final drive. The Diavel 1260 top speed is 159 mph with a 0-to-60 time of 2.7 seconds.

If you hate having your keys flop around and flail your paint while you ride, note that the 1260s come with a Hands-Free Ignition. HFI automatically activates the ignition as soon as you enter the 4.5-foot detection radius, so you can leave the key in your pocket or clipped to your belt/chain.

Design

The Diavel made a splash when it landed back in 2010 for MY2011. However, the “1260” is a second-generation machine with a number of improvements over the originals.

What hasn't changed is the aggressive, all-up-front panache that makes it look like a sprinter crouched at the blocks with a flyline unlike anything else around. It's that long tank that does it. That and the abbreviated subframe section that peters out to nothing to leave pilot and pillion suspended over the aching void above the rear wheel.

A cut-down front fender helps keep unsprung weight down at the front axle while maintaining (barely) sufficient coverage to contain the spray,. Out back, there's a hugger-plate holder combo with a secondary hugger mounted forward of the rear wheel to complete the coverage.

Beefy, inverted forks prop up the front end and add to the performance bent. The cyclops headlight-plus-DRL reinforces the naked DNA.

I like what they've done with the turn signals. A strip of LEDs handles the winker duties. They're set in the leading edge of the cheek-fairings/radiator shroud rather than going the standoff route that always looks like an afterthought.

In a departure from typical naked design, the intake scoops on each side of the tank up top, the radiator shrouds, and a chin fairing give the 1260s the equivalent of a cowling scoop. That coverage very quickly ends, except down low where the chin fairing stretches into a belly pan, which in turn flows into the sheet-metal detail at the silencers. So, It's a naked bike, but just barely.

A 3.5-inch TFT screen delivers all the pertinent metrics with a high-contrast display and four different display modes, plus it serves as a rider interface for the various sub-systems. There's a gang of warning lights to supplement the instrument display and cover the remaining bases.

Short-rise bars move the rider's hands closer to the torso, and the footpegs are relatively high to make the rider's triangle a kind of hybrid between a relaxed standard and a proper race bike. It's what the factory calls a “power cruiser.” But, that's kind of the Diavel's schtick, isn't it? That and the long tank?

Chassis

The Diavel 1260 carries more in the way of body covers than usual for a self-professed naked bike. The steel-tube Trellis frame gives us a little glimpse below the tank, but there's not much to see since the engine is a stressed unit that displaces a significant chunk of the frame.

The steering geometry takes the edge off the handling just a skosh. It's enough for low-fatigue cruising and decent tracking at 27 degrees and 4.7 inches for rake and trail, respectively.

There's a diversion at the stems that marks the first important difference between the Diavel 1260 and the 1260 S. The base model comes with a set of non-descript, 50 mm, usd forks that sport the full trifecta of adjustments. A coil-over monoshock tames the single-side, cast-aluminum swingarm.

Adjustable preload and rebound-damping grace the rear end, but the “S” takes it to another level with Öhlins products all around. A pair of 48 mm, usd front forks bring the trinity to the table, but so does the rear monoshock on the “S” to put it a notch higher in the food chain than the base 1260.

Cast, 17-inch wheels round out the rolling chassis, but again the two models differ as the base model runs 14-spoke wheels while the S runs 10-spoke rim. No matter which you choose, you can count on Pirelli's Diablo Rosso III tires with a 120/70 up front and 240/45 out back.

Both bikes run with dual, 320 mm discs up front and a 265 mm disc out back. Where the base comes with Brembo's four-pot, M4.32 calipers up front opposite a twin pot caliper, the “S” scores Brembo M50 calipers up front.

Both benefit from the Bosch Cornering ABS. In fact, the full safety equipment package comes stock across the board with rear end-lift mitigation as the icing on the brake-cake.

2022 Ducati Diavel 1260 Price

The 2022 Ducati Diavel 1260 costs $21,195 for the base model. For 2022, the Diavel 1260 S starts at $24,195 with the new Black and Steel livery adding a grand more.

Ducati covers your new Diavel with a two-year, unlimited mileage warranty. If you're looking for the Diavel 1260 S for sale, the Black and Steel model hit dealerships in Fall 2021.

Diavel 1260 Standard Equipment

-Cruise control

-Ducati Power Launch Evo (DPL)

-Hands-Free

-Backlit handlebar switches

-3.5" TFT color display

-Full LED lighting system

-Self-canceling turn indicators

Diavel 1260 Ready for:

-Ducati Quick Shift up/down Evo (DQS)

-Ducati Multimedia System (DMS)

-Antitheft system

Diavel 1260 S Standard Equipment

-Öhlins fully adjustable suspension

-Ducati Quick Shift up/down Evo (DQS)

-Cruise control

-Ducati Power Launch Evo (DPL)

-Hands-Free

-Backlit handlebar switches

-3.5" TFT color display

-Full LED lighting system

-Daytime Runnings Lights (DRL)

-Self-canceling turn indicators

-Ducati Multumedia System (DMS)

Diavel 1260 S Ready for: Antitheft system

Competitors

From the build to the engine, the Ducati Diavel finds itself in rare company. However, Triumph Motorcycles has a dog in the race with its Rocket 3 R.

Triumph Rocket 3 R

The Brit has an engine that's big both inside and out, so the triple dominates the picture. As for the rest, the bodywork is kept to a minimum.

Suspension is similar, as are the brakes. Trumpet rocks a fully-adjustable rear shock with adjustable compression- and rebound-damping variables. The ABS feature comes in the corner-sensitive variety across the board.

If we just look at the displacement, the Brit stands head and shoulders above the Duc. However, Ducati manages to wring almost as much horsepower from its L-Twin mill with 159 ponies against the Rocket's 165 for a difference that makes no difference.

Torque favors the Triple, though, with 163 pounds o' grunt against the Diavel's 95 pound-feet. That is a difference that will register on the old heinie-dyno. Electronics are also close, though Triumph leaves the quick shifter for the optional equipment list while Duc puts it on the stock build.

Triumph's Rocket 3 R starts out at $23,400 for its black-on-black base model, though the color and two-tone packages are more expensive against Ducati's $23,395 sticker so you can forget about using price as the tiebreaker. Honestly, both are worth a test ride.

He Said

“Oddly enough, I prefer this to the XDiavel that runs with cruiser-style forward controls, believe me, feet-first gets old. At least you can throw some English if your heels are under your butt. Oh and that rear end ain't particularly passenger-friendly, even if the factory begrudgingly mounts some flip-out pegs on the swingarm. On that point, all I can say is 'ew'.”

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “This is the same engine as the XDiavel and the Multistrada 1260 and has a nice electronics package, too. Ducati took a bike that looked sinister and had an aggressive attitude and doubled down in 2019. I didn't think it would be possible. The turn signals even look menacing. I like it.”

Further Reading

Read more Ducati news.