280 miles on a Diavel

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Ebein_486

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Location
Clinton Township, MI
I just bought my wife a used Ducati Monster ST2. So Saturday I
stopped by the dealer since I wanted to have the kickstand cut
after I lowered it enough for her to get both feet down. I rode my Max up to the
dealer, and while bsing with the owner he asked me which of
the bikes at his dealer I liked best, I pointed at a Diavel, and an
MV Agusta F4. He grined and asked me If i could come back Sunday.
I said I can but arent you closed? Yeah he replies but I'll be here at noon
Stop by and we'll go for a ride. I figured I'd be riding my max and he'd
ride a diavel... No I pull up on the max and 2 new diavel's are sitting
out front. :eek:h yeah:

I go in to the shop, and he hands me a key fob and says put this in your
pocket. I grin and zip it in with my jacket with the max key and house keys.

Start up is a little weird with no key. On the right handle bar is a slider that
covers a button, the slider is your kill switch, run switch and the button is
the starter, but you have to hold the kill switch down for a second or two
then slide it up to run before hitting the start button, it wakes up the
electronics/fuel pump etc.. On the left side of the bar is the turn signal
switch with a button at the end as well as a high beam flasher, and two
sliders, one up one down and the horn, these controls are to used to set
various settings including, the ABS program, Traction control program
and the horsepower setting ( 162 or 100 ).

He goes over the basics, then warns me the bike doesnt really like running
under 3k rpm in gear and to test the brakes as they are the same brakes
off of ducati's superbike. I think yeah yeah, I have R1 brakes on my
max, how much better can they be? umm Honestly think it brakes better
than my ability to hold on to the bar. When I rode my max home, I grabed
a handful of brake and thought my brakes had failed. Guess I really need
to ride a Gen 2 to compare.

We rode out to a local racetrack and watched some Spec Miata/ITA/F1
racing, I got sunburned :bang head:. However the road into the track is all gravel.
Honestly I havent riden in gravel in 20+ years and its not something I
would do with my own bike, but I was suprised how docile it was in the
rocks, no wheel spin, no lockup on braking. Still made me nervous but
made it in and out of the track without any issues, then the fun began.

Rode some real back roads for several hours, including some very nice
sweepers, the bike handles like a champ, and launchers harder than
my Gen 1 with Stage 1/Kerker, however I dont like the sound of the twin
vs the max, and Im leaned forward quite a bit more than on the max.

We did a little highway, some small town and bumper to bumper traffic
while out riding around. After 280 miles, we had only stoped once for fuel
at around 100 miles in, I was supprised to not be on fumes when we
stoped for the day. I got off and was suprisingly not at all sore, until the
next day.

My overall impressions are the acceleration is good, not really a huge jump
over My gen 1, it probably is significantly faster, it just doesnt 'feel' faster.
But oh my god the brakes are amazing, and of all things, the mirrors ...
I could see behind me on both mirrors and the lane on either side of me,
I never realized how horrible the stock mirrors are on the max, all i see is
my shoulder and a little of the lane on either side, I have to slide left
or right to see behind me. The handling is very good but I dont think
it did anything I couldnt do on my max, at least on the ride we did.
The Keyless start is nice, as is the keyless handlebar lock. The two
Instrument clusters give alot of info, and if I had more time I would have
fiddled with them more, but I was intent on just enjoying the ride.

MV Agusta F4 this weekend or next :whistlin: Ill let you know
how that ride goes in an attempt to keep it at semi-legal speed :rofl_200:
83 mph in first gear!
 
I would guess the larger rotors, 200ish less lbs, not sure i ever got on it hard enough for ABS to kick in as i dont recall any pulsation.
 
I like the Diavel alot, I'd love to ride one. But just like a Gen II, if I ride one I'll be thinking of trying to get one. But it would be cool to compare the two of them. I really like the instrumentation on the Diavel. It looks like it would be the iPhone of bikes! But 2 iPhone bills a month is enough of a payment for now. But, someday. I still would keep my Gen 1 though. Oh well, just gotta hit the lottery I guess!!!
 
good ride report bud, i sat on one at a bike show. i also agree you're leaning over much more but thats the style of the bike i guess. id like to take one out just for the change of riding but still think that being a tall fella, ill never get used to the sport bike style...

peace,
evan...
 
I've heard the same thing about the brakes....they are oustanding. Most say if you really grab them you better be holding on tight!

The Gen 2 has great brakes as well but weighs a lot more.
 
Nice write up:clapping:. Ive ridden the duc, I personaly didnt like it. My son tried to talk me into one as he sells both,and I could have had the duc for ALOT less then the max.
Im still waiting to run into a diavel in the real word,with a rider willing to give it go.
Maybe at thunder:ummm:
 
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