Ducati Diavel Carbon from Bikeshop Boksburg

Ducati Diavel Carbon – 162 horses of…. OH MY GOSH…..!!!!!!

A pre-owned motorcycle from Bikeshop Boksburg review:

Words: Séan Hendley
Pics: Deon van der Linde

I am just going to get this out of the way from the get go:

I have never been a huge Ducati fan. It’s not the brand’s fault, just my personal preference.

I have always been more of muscle bike, cruiser and custom fan – they just move my soul and are the bikes that make an impression, bikes are all about the way they make me feel.

Now, much to my own surprise I have to add a certain Ducati to that list of very esteemed machines.

This particular Ducati Diavel Carbon was borrowed for the day from Bikeshop Boksburg. It is a 2014 model with just over 22,300 km on the clock that they got into stock a week or so ago. Here’s a quick recap of the highlights on the spec sheet.

The 2014, the Diavel had quite the makeover to styling and engine as well as few other bits and bobs. Most notable was the powerplant which is a reworked version of Ducati’s 1198cc, eight-valve Testastretta 11 degree V-twin. Twin spark plugs per cylinder, reshaped ports, revised cam timing, higher compression ratio and new, slash-cut silencers combine to supply a lot more of the 127.5 nm of torque below 9000 rpm, from really right down the bottom of the rev range. It has a peak power output of 162bhp .

“Man oh man, I think I am down with the sickness… the Diavel Carbon sickness.”

Tipping the scales at 205 kg’s, (5kg’s lighter than the standard Diavel), the Carbon is appreciably light for a muscle bike delivering so much torque and power. With its long wheelbase , (1,590mm to be exact), the 28 degree steering angle and 240 section rear tyre it delivers surprisingly stable and nimble handling

Almost unbelievably so.

Other notable bits include the LED headlight and the cool fuel gauge in the tank-top instrument panel. The Carbon version adds some extra bling along the lines of carbon-fibre tank and seat covers, front mudguard, forged wheels, machined brake discs and different silencers. 

The Carbon’s dramatic looks and relaxed riding position exude an air of power and exclusivity.

So, how does this 11 year old pre-owned Italian machine ride?

We did a thorough inspection of this bike before we swung a leg over it. Essentially, it is one of one, meaning this make and model, with this mileage and in this condition is very unique.

As far as we could see, there is not a blemish, scratch or chip. The engine sounds healthy without any untoward noises or even the slightest sweat of any liquids.

The discs and pads look as good as new, as does the chain and sprockets. The tyres have fair wear on them, but are still good for very many kilometres.

All brake and clutch fluids are still clear, the clutch felt like new, the brakes had good pressure and feedback. As far as we could tell, this 2014 Ducati Diavel Carbon is as close as you can get to a new bike!

At just over 22,100 km’s on the clock, we didn’t feel it fair to the shop and whoever buys the bike to chunk on the mileage with a ride to Long Tom Pass – like we would have loved to, but we still did need to give it a proper ride to review it properly, so we did about 150 km’s in and around Gauteng, riding in traffic, bombing down the highways and finding some nice twisty mountain roads along the way. 

I went in with an “expecting to be underwhelmed” attitude, and right from the get go I was pleasantly overwhelmed by how nice the Diavel is – and how well this particular Ducati rides.

My 2 metre, 115 kg bulk was immediately comfortable with the ergonomics of the Diavel Carbon. And unlike most Italian bikes…. and even cars for that matter that I have commandeered, everything seemed to be laid out logically in the cockpit, exactly where I would instinctively look for it, so at least I wasn’t inadvertently hooting at the ladies at the roadside stops and street corner when aiming for the indicator switch.

This bike is FAST A.F.!!!

I started out in touring mode for the first 5 minutes and was reasonably impressed.

THEN… I switched to Sport mode and almost immediately it felt like the world around me stood still and I was suddenly onboard an ICBM that seemed to be manipulated telepathically.

Banging down the freeway, cities rose and fell in my peripheral vision, traffic was a blur of lethargic rolling chicanes, all while seated in a fair amount of comfort without my head stuck somewhere between my knees and elbows.

How could this be?

Full disclosure, this was my first ride ever on a Diavel, because of a lack of interest in demo models from the Ducati peeps in SA. But the good news is that with VW taking the brand over, there should be more Ducati content coming through…

Sadly, I had to eventually pull over to wait for our cameraman who was bravely trying to keep up and I had time to ponder the Ducati Diavel Carbon.

I have ridden impressively fast and great handling muscles bikes often, but none that accelerated like this machine, nor came even close to its superbike like handling or sound.

That sound from the exhaust pipe was something akin to a hybrid of Barry White as I rolled off the gas for corners and stops and David Draiman as I held the gas wide open and fanned the clutch through the gears – man oh man, I think I am down with the sickness… the Diavel Carbon sickness.

When Deon caught up, we wandered off to our favourite bit of sweeping mountain roads, which, much to our delight, has been restricted to general traffic, so it’s sort of a private playground of for us. That means that we could enjoy the twists and turn properly!

Our biggest road hazards were a bit of sand on some corners or the occasional speed bump.  

This is where I truly came to terms with the chassis, suspension and brakes and the Ducati Diavel really showed its superbike heritage the best. Rolling on the gas, hooking up through the gears, then back down through the box as I clamped on the hooks and tilted into a corner. Truth be told, I had braced myself for manhandling the Diavel through the twisty stuff based on my experience with just about every other muscle bike I have ever ridden, but it only took me about two or three corners to adjust my muscle memory to normal street bike riding. This bike is soooo good in the corners. 

All too soon, the sun started kissing the top of the western koppies and we had to balega back to Bikeshop Boksburg to return the Diavel.

In the final summary:

The Ducati Diavel Carbon is a great bike for just about every road discipline from just cruising down the highway to whipping through traffic and I reckon it would really rattle some proper sportsbikes around the track as well. My only real niggles with the Diavel are with the size of my feet/boots versus the space available on the right footpeg. The exhaust sweeps up quite tightly on the right. I like to ride with my toes on the peg, especially when tilting into a right hander. I found the exhaust interfered with my foot placement a bit, but I worked around it. Other than that, I would have liked a quickshifter on the bike and maybe cruise control as well, but other than those minor issues I really can’t find anything to legitimately complain about.

As far as the condition of this 2014 example from Bikeshop Boksburg goes, it is faultless. Had I not been told it was 11 years old I would easily have believed it to have been a new or close to new bike. 

It’s great news that for a smidge under R170k, you can still get a bike like this.

And this is one bike that you need to add to your collection.

Go check it out.

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