WORLD LAUNCH: Ducati’s NEW Diavel 1260. FIRST LOOK.

MoreBikes is out in Marbella, Spain for the world launch of the 2019 Ducati Diavel.

Essentially, the bike has been given an extensive make-over for this year with major work happening on the motor, chassis and looks (even though, at first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking that this new bike looks pretty much identical to the old one – in the flesh, it’s quite a bit different).

That 1260 Testastretta DVT motor (1262cc) kicks out 159bhp @ 9,500rpm with 95lb-ft @ 7,500rpm on tap too. The chassis has become even more minimalist these days, really only acting as something to bolt the massive Ohlins forks onto. It works in terms of making the bike look like a bloody big engine with wheels slammed on either end.

Thankfully for Diavel fans (I count myself among these people having fallen for the original bike almost a decade ago), the bike’s very characteristic original feature of the mammoth 240 section rear tyre is back for this latest version of the bike that really did coin the term ‘muscle cruiser’.

With a dry weight of 218kg and a seat height of just 780mm, the Diavel is nowhere near as intimidating to ride as it looks. Well, I base that on having ridden loads of Diavels over the years… this one is surely still that great mix of big motor and WSB-derived suspension cleverness all wrapped up with every possible gizmo and tech-doodah you could want.

Money-wise it’s just over £16.5k for the standard bike with the S version (more tech, more brakes, cool black look with red frame) coming in at not much under £20k.

The Diavel has undergone many tweaks over the past decade (XDiavel aside… shudder…) but this version is clearly its father’s son. As in, the original father. The so-far-the-best Diavel that Ducati has turned out.

Tomorrow we get to ride some incredible roads here in Spain for around 175 miles and by the end of that we’ll know if this is a return to the original recipe that made the first Diavel so ground-breaking or something that at least looks like it knows what it’s doing but in reality doesn’t capture that thrilling bit of the ride that many of us love so much. Big shoes to fill, Ducati. You’d better have got this one right…

We’ll bring you our very first thoughts on the 2019 Diavel here on MoreBikes as soon as we’re off the bikes tomorrow.