Cycle World Ten Best Riding Experience

[oVTo]

About a week ago Cycle World sent an e-mail about their Ten Best Riding Experience. They're going around the country providing demo rides on the bikes that won their "Ten Best" awards last year. So I filled out the entry form, and today I got an e-mail saying they've reserved two Diavels for me and a guest rider. Yeah, I know, a lot of you think it's fugly. And yeah, I know, I could probably get a test ride at Seacoast or other good Ducati dealers. But it's still kind of cool. The e-mail said that there will be 100 riders at the event (over two days). Are any other NESRians going?

[Rada]

Sounds cool Dan!!

[Garandman]

Got the same thing. Thought we were going to have a chance to ride more than one bike. When I found out it was only a Diavel I felt like a chump for giving them the marketing info.

[caddydaddy]

I did the same event in Houston in April. It was a BLAST! The Diavel is an awesome bike. The power was addicting! It really blew me away how well it handled for such a big bike, and one that's not a sport bike!

Have fun!

[kumpy]

Where is this happening?? Is it relatively close to MASS?

[oVTo]

Got the same thing. Thought we were going to have a chance to ride more than one bike. When I found out it was only a Diavel I felt like a chump for giving them the marketing info.

I've never ridden a 'power cruiser' so I thought it would be fun to try something completely different. Plus there will be a bunch of motorcyclists hanging out on a Saturday morning, so it will be a good time.

I did the same event in Houston in April. It was a BLAST! The Diavel is an awesome bike. The power was addicting! It really blew me away how well it handled for such a big bike, and one that's not a sport bike!

Have fun!

Thanks, I will. I wonder if everyone is riding the Diavel. Maybe this is just a Ducati thing disguised as a CW Ten Best Bikes event?

Where is this happening?? Is it relatively close to MASS?

Yeah, it's in Danvers, but I think Cycle World limited the invitations to subscribers.

[Sheppo]

I filled out the form too, I haven't heard yet.

[caddydaddy]

I wonder if everyone is riding the Diavel. Maybe this is just a Ducati thing disguised as a CW Ten Best Bikes event?

There were about 20 or so Diavels of all flavors there to ride. There were a few MultiStradas there, but they were for show. They had the Ducati tent set up with the Caffe, and Ducati girls serving snacks, water and expresso. It was nicer than some bike dealers that I've been to! haha!
At the end, they gave us all an Altoids type tin with the Ducati logo on it, and inside was a USB Flash Drive with pics from the event on it.

[oVTo]

I test rode the Diavel Saturday morning at the "Cycle World" event. It was, as expected, just Ducati Experience demo rides in a Cycle World wrapper. We hung out in the café for a while, had some biscotti and espresso, watched videos and ogled Ducati girls while we waited for the bikes to return. Before the ride we sat through 20 minute dog and pony show and a review of the rules (no wheelies, stoppies, passing each other, or slingshotting).

I wasn't quick enough to get one of the 'tall seat' models, and the low seat was painful. That was the bike's biggest flaw. After the ride I sat on a high-seat model and it was much better. Some people would say its looks are its biggest flaw, but I give Ducati credit for trying to expand their customer base without totally betraying their heritage. Sort of like the HD VRod but going in the opposite direction - from performance to cruiser.

The ergonomics are great; it's a very comfortable bike, at least for tall people. The bars are forward and a bit wide, not unlike a BMW GS. Reach might be a problem for some people. With the right seat, it would be all-day comfortable. The view from the seat is clean and cruiser-like, but the gauges are low and small enough to make searching for your mph while at speed a bit of a challenge. After riding it for a while that probably wouldn't be a problem.

The Diavel has 3 maps, Urban, Tour, and Sport. Urban is '100' hp and very mild. Unless it really improves your mileage, it's useless. Tour is good for everyday use. It has the full '162' hp, but the map isn't as aggressive as Sport. In traffic, Sport was annoyingly abrupt. Without traffic, Sport mode was just right if you don't mind speeding tickets. I'd probably use Tour 90% of the time. The motor was sweet, a real torque monster. The brakes are outstanding. Handling was better than expected for a bike with a 240 rear. But still a bit odd. You tip in the front end, wait, have a cup of coffee and a cigarette, get married and have a kid, wait a bit more, then the rear follows. If you ride a cruiser this is probably expected but going from sportbikes it was a bit odd. The only other complaint was the bike had a bit of a howl around 45mph, and again around 75-80. It wasn't loud, but it was there, like an annoying kid sister. I wasn't sure whether it was wind through the body work or if it was coming from the airbox, so I asked one of the Duc guys. He said it was the plastic above the headlight nacel, that it varied from bike to bike, and the design had been tweaked to get rid of it.

The demo ride was about an hour. We rode from Danvers up through a couple of horsey towns to Ipswich and Gloucester and back. There was a bit of 128 at the start and end but we rode mostly minor highways and local roads. The most painful part of the ride was passing Woodman's at lunchtime. It smelled so good. There was quite a bit of traffic and a lot of the ride was in a staggered formation pack behind SUVs. But they found a few sections of nice wide open road. When we weren't Duc-blocked by the soccer moms, the lead rider set an aggressive pace, and we lost half the group a couple times.

Honestly, at that pace, on those roads, on a beautiful sunny summer Saturday afternoon, I could understand the logic of the bike and started lusting for one of my own. I even started wondering what it would be like at NJMP. Lean angle is 41 degrees before touching down. Hmmmm. Those bastards.

But the ride ended and I came to my senses. Unless I win the lottery, the Diavel is not my next bike. Even if I win the lottery it wouldn't be, but I would buy one. Just not first. My next bike is going to be more touring-oriented. But the ride did get me thinking about the Multistrada. Same Testestretta 11° engine, same 15k mile service interval. But the Multistrada is in the right category.

All the staff was great. It was cool to meet Blake Conners, the Ducati guys had good info, and Tonya, who arranged the whole Cycle World event was awesome. She even offered to let me take a bike out with the next group, but I had other commitments. It was a good time. If you get a chance, I'd recommend going for it.