Ti amo!

Olives, wine, pizza, gelato, Monica Belucci… These were a few of my favourite Italian things. But the new Diavel 1260 S just might wipe all off those right off the slate!

- Ashok George

It felt great! When me and Rishaad are chasing each other like this on motorcycles, we’re usually under the strict supervision of race control and have the chequered flag in mind. But this time, there were no points to be won, no trophies, no celebration. This time we were just two mindless teenagers wth not a care in the world. And it felt great! Until I looked down at the speedo, that is.

All this while, our pace felt like a quick 80-100kph. But a quick glance at the speedo proved that to be very, very wrong. The digital display was reading all kinds of numbers north of 140kph!

Something this big has no business being this quick and fast. Of course, one might argue that the previous generation of the Diavel was every bit the same kind of monster. I’d agree too. In fact, it still remains one of the quickest motorcycles I have tested with it hitting 100kph in just over three seconds! But, this new Diavel is quicker, faster and corners even harder! I know! It’s hard to believe.

There is a lot of work that has gone into this motorcycle that makes it the work of art that it is now. And to start with, we need to look at the design.

It is unmistakably a Diavel. Think of it this way – from the original Diavel, the design became sharper when the XDiavel came around. And with the new 1260, the design folk at Bologna have taken things a step further. There are minimal amounts of plastic being used and a lot more brushed aluminium and cast metal. The frame remains a central part of the design like in most Ducatis but a lot of bits and bobs have been redesigned – like the LED indicators that have now been integrated into the bodywork and borrow Audi’s lighting tech for some truly space-age looks. The silencer too has become stockier and you get a great, unobstructed view of the rear wheel.