Issue #267 The Diavel is in the Details
The Diavel made them do it? As we look at new models in this issue Ducati has thrown its riding glove—the one with the open fingers—into the ring with the soon to be launched but long spied-upon Diavel. That is “Devil” in English for those questioning my spell checker. The Diavel is Ducati carefully entering the cruiser market. Although I was under the impression that Ducati had, in its eyes, already entered the cruiser market with the Monster—or so we were told by a Ducati rep back when the Monster began to make a larger splash in North America in the early 2000s. The Monster, while certainly a more relaxed riding position than say a 1098, is a bit of a stretch when talking about cruisers. So is the Diavel going to be a full-on cruiser from Ducati you ask? Depends on whom you talk to.
It will be Ducati’s interpretation of the cruiser and it’s a fine line they have to walk. From what we have seen in the spy video—the “secret” test featuring zebra camouflaged bikes and guys wearing Ducati jackets—the Diavel falls definitively at the aggressive “sport” end of the cruiser spectrum. Among Ducatisti it will be heralded as the bike that made cruisers worth a second look.
It is, according to company press releases, the machine that “will take the man-motorcycle relationship to the next level.” But sometimes offering to take a relationship to the next next level will result in a rebuff, either the mild variety or a slap across the chops. Besides that line may have already been crossed in Ducati’s infamous ad featuring a barefooted fellow embracing his bike.
But, with the possible exception of the 999 with its stacked projector beam headlights, most Ducatis are heralded by the Italian marque’s enthusiast. Oddly enough I kind of liked how that bike looked—which would get me voted off Ducati Island come next year’s GP round in California. Perhaps the Diavel is what a 1098 rider will aspire to when he retires. (You always want to give your customers a product to move on to.) But what of the rest of us? How will non-Ducatisti respond to the Diavel? I am going to fall back to the automobile world for a parallel. Porsche introduces a SUV. Which for the most of us was like Hummer producing a two-door sport coupe. It wasn’t supposed to be. But Porsche was following the money trail. And to their credit the Cayenne turned out to be a success. Who knew so many people wanted a hot rod SUV to never get dirty?
The cruiser market is the big piece of the pie, particularly in North America but the slice is getting larger in other parts of the world as well. The companies that have dipped their boots in the cruiser pool far outnumber those that have not. All with varying degrees of success. Triumph was successful in launching the Bonneville America, the Rocket III and the Thunderbird, and big cruisers now represent a sizeable portion of that company’s lineup. Moto Guzzi had a cruiser. BMW had a cruiser. The companies without cruisers are far into the minority.
The Diavel is what money looks like these days. In the future cruisers from unexpected sources will continue to pop up. I wonder how long before we get a Diavel bagger with a stereo system and a backrest? Aida would sound good on a lonely road in the desert.
