New Bike Test
and the bike will get to the cafe safely; set it in Touring and the bike will happily roll along quiet roads with aplomb; set it in Sport and it will stay with any bike on the road. Take it to a track day and it will take a good rider on a sportsbike to get in front of the Diavel. A bike for all seasons? Certainly. I found that in fast cornering, the more I asked of the bike, the more it delivered — but that should have come as no surprise. When you find yourself in the middle of a corner that is tightening up, you can almost feel the bike say “Relax, leave this cornering
stuff to me. Point me where you want me to go and I’ll take us there”. One thing about the bike still puzzles me: according to the spec sheets, the steering geometry is the same as that of the Diavel Strada I tested last year and although I praised that model very highly, the understeer into corners was less than pleasing. It did, however, behaved itself once the power drove it through but the understeer really detracted from the overall package. This Diavel is the same on paper but I found that its steering in Cruiser & Trike
83
GRINS One bike, three personalities Any road, anywhere, fully capable The music Alien and ugly but SO much fun
GRIPES The seat gave me two wet patches I couldn’t adjust the play in the twist grip