2013 Ducati Diavel

2013 Ducati Diavel

Weighing just 463 lb, featuring a powerful sophisticated design and offering a massive 162 hp that is managed to perfection via the three Riding Modes, the Diavel is an utterly spellbinding bike that only Ducati could have come up with.

• Diavel concept

The Diavel project was born when Ducati designers applied their wish-list of bike “basic instincts” to a blank canvas. With a “what if?” approach to creating a dream bike, they sketched inspiring shapes which became a lower and longer motorcycle. “The challenge of building a muscular silhouette over a pure-bred competition motor had to be met with determination and a delicate touch, and the result is a frontal area that looks like a power athlete on the starting blocks,” explains the team at Ducati Design responsible for the project. “With the front wheel kept close to the Diavel’s body and using the short tail of a sport bike, we were able to blend this muscular design with a chassis that matched.”

• Testastretta 11°

The Diavels heart is the Ducati Testastretta 11° - developed directly from the incredibly powerful, world-beating race engines of Ducati Corse. Ducati’s Testastretta 11° harnesses the immense power of the Superbike engine and makes it smooth and adaptable, a massive step forward in balancing high-performance with an enjoyable ride. For an engine with brute power on tap when needed and smooth, user-friendliness available for an effortless and comfortable ride, Ducati revised the configuration of the cam timing with particular focus on the valve overlap angle. The overlap angle is defined as the interval of crankshaft rotation, measured in degrees, during which both the intake and exhaust valves are open at the same time. This overlap occurs between the end of the exhaust stroke and the start of the intake stroke. High performance engines, which are subject to compromising smoothness for extreme power delivery, use high values of this parameter in order to benefit from the pressure waves to improve engine performance by maximising volumetric efficiency. On the Testastretta 11° engine, this angle has been reduced from 41°, used in the Testastretta Evoluzione engine which powers the 1198, to 11°. As a result, the fresh inlet charge flow is less compromised by the exiting exhaust gases, resulting in a much smoother combustion in addition to improved fuel economy and lower exhaust emissions.

• Power and Torque

With its 162hp and colossal 94lb-ft (127.5Nm) of torque, the Diavel Testastretta 11° engine is all about authentic Ducati Desmodromic performance. The revised intake and exhaust ports combined with radical adjustment of the cam timing have enabled Ducati to achieve a fantastic torque curve at low rpm, which remains strong through a wider rev-range. The increase in bottom-end torque is managed by Ducati’s Ride-by-Wire (RbW) system to considerably enhance the Diavel’s effortless ridability, while ensuring plenty of power remains on tap for high-rpm riding.

• Ride-by-Wire

The Ride-by-Wire (RbW) system is an electronic interface between the Diavel’s twistgrip and engine, which configures an ideal power response depending on the riding mode selected. The twistgrip no longer has a throttle cable connected directly to the throttle body butterflies, but instead delivers a signal to a control unit, which in turn operates the butterfly opening electronically. The RbW system uses three different mappings to regulate the power delivery: 162hp with a sports-type delivery 162hp with a progressive delivery suitable for touring 100hp with progressive delivery for city use.