Cruising motorcycles are not what come to mind when one thinks of Ducati.  Instead, what’s conjured up are images of fast, sleek, and light weight motorcycles adorned in the typical red paint that’s synonymous with racing and passion.  The marquee has done an exceptional job at creating this expectation from the motorcycling enthusiasts. So it’s no surprise that, even when challenged with the arduous task of designing and building a cruiser, the designers and engineers took it upon themselves to highlight their abilities as a racing company.

Many manufacturers have tried, and failed, at copying the American Cruiser recipe.  We’ve seen model after model get rolled out in hopes of sharing that market and, ultimately, come up short.  This is especially true of the European brands.  The Americans understand the big, wide, and long roads that we are accustomed to so they design and build bikes that take up space and hum along in seemingly endless highways without needing to pay particular attention to handling, braking, or weight savings.  Those things don’t make a sexy cruiser.  Chrome not carbon fiber.

Enter the 2025 Ducati X Diavel V4.  It may be a conquest bike, as the Italians are trying to tempt and allure the cruiser shoppers to pause and ponder the possibilities that the MotoGP dominating brand might create for them.  Come to the Italian side; they’ve got guanchale and aren’t afraid to use it.  

First impressions: It’s very pretty. You end up walking around it a few times to take in all the details, of which there are plenty, and come to the realization that its length and girth are design features that make the bike muscular, curvy, and organic.  Every line makes sense and the folks in charge of design knocked it out of the park. It looks killer and the forward controls are an odd thing to behold on a Ducati.  This isn’t a new exercise as the original X Diavel tried a lot of what’s happening now and was well loved by the folks who bought them.  The previous iteration had one big flaw: the suspension.  I braced myself as I was told that we were about to embark on about 1100 kilometers of riding through Sicily’s beautiful, twisty, and somewhat imperfect roads.  

As I fired up the X Diavel, I noticed the very large and clear dash display that can be well tailored to the rider’s needs and the first thing that caught my eye was the 11,500 RPM redline.  That’s strange – the Gran Turismo V4 motor that’s used on the various Multistrada platforms, as well as the Diavel, have a 10,000 RPM redline.  There’s some sorcery afoot with the 1158cc V4 motor that’s now making 168hp at 10,750 RPM.  Click the bike into gear and remind myself that the footpegs are not below me – up ahead where the rider is put in that ubiquitous cruiser seating position with hands and feet forward.  This means that every bump and dip is felt directly through the sensory input of the butt, right up the spine – or so I assumed as we embarked on our ride out of Palermo. We zigzagged our way south towards our coffee break in the town of Palazzo Adriano where I exclaimed: “holy shit, this thing is incredible!”.  The riders on other motorcycles looked at me as if I were spewing propaganda. 

The bike is unbelievably flickable. I know, you’re thinking: “yeah, for a cruiser.”.  No, in general, this machine likes to be tossed from side to side and the chassis leaves a lot of room for errors and corrective input. Maybe it’s that counter-rotating crankshaft that’s making the bike feel extra neutral. Is it a super sport? No. Will it make your face hurt as you slice through technical turn after turn with its seemingly unflappable suspension and nearly perfect gearing? Yes.  The brakes work very well and in linear fashion, without fade, and you’ll use them plenty at a sporty pace because the beast is a bit hefty for the kind of shenanigans that it promotes, at a claimed 505 lbs, without fuel.  That 11,500 RPM redline? It pulls with vigor all the way to the top without any kind of hiccup.  And the suspension? The words “magic carpet ride” came to mind, repeatedly.  There is far more travel, at 145 mm at the rear, compared to the old model.  Engineering and magic combined together to make this low slung machine work well in the real world. 

Ducati has managed to make a motorcycle that’s a pleasure to ride fast, at a sporty pace, as well as gently at a slow and steady pace.  You can enjoy the scenery or grit your teeth and do high-end calculus while chasing a Street Fighter V4S.  Or so I’m told.  Is it affordable? No. Is it for everyone? Also no.  Is it a sexy and high horsepower smooth criminal that will steal your heart? Let’s just say that if the Italian brand was to call me and offer to let me keep a long-term test unit, I would say: “Andiamo!”