Ducati Diavel first ride: "I'm simply blown away!"
By Phil West -
First rides & tests
07 February 2011 09:57
MCN’s Phil West has just ridden the all-new Ducati Diavel ‘power-cruiser’ at its world launch in southern Spain. This is what he has to say:
“I’ve got to say I’m simply blown away by the Diavel. It’s so light, fast, sophisticated and so good handling and fun it completely turns on its head everything we thought so-called ‘cruisers were about until now.
"Or, to put it another way: the Diavel does to the cruiser bike class pretty much – if not more – what Ducati’s Multistrada did to the adventure bike class last year.
“That’s basically down to three things: the Diavel’s a custom built by a sports bike manufacturer – so it’s light and has sports bike handling and brakes. I can’t stress enough how convention-defyingly good the Diavel is through the twisties.
“Second, it’s littered with high tech: there’s a three-way riding mode system, ABS as standard, traction control, top notch brakes and suspension and more. Compared to this your average Harley looks, not like it’s from the ‘50s but from the ‘30s.
“And thirdly it’s gigglingly fast but, thanks to the mode switch, only when you want it to be. And that, combined with great ergonomics and spec, make it practical too.”
MCN’s full test of the Diavel is in this Wednesday’s Motorcycle News.
see the full article at www.motorcyclenews.com
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Rossi Replica!
Ducati CEO Confirms Rossi Replica in the Works
Whilst speaking about Ducati’s 2010 sales performance and the acquisition of Valentino Rossi’s services for the next 2 years, Ducati CEO Gabriele del Torchio let out that the company plans a model celebrating the new Rossi and Ducati relationship.
When asked about the possibility of a Rossi replica signature streetbike model del Torchio replied in the affirmative without specifying the time frame.
“In due time, in due time. Now it’s too early to say, but in due time you can expect.”
Whilst speaking about Ducati’s 2010 sales performance and the acquisition of Valentino Rossi’s services for the next 2 years, Ducati CEO Gabriele del Torchio let out that the company plans a model celebrating the new Rossi and Ducati relationship.
When asked about the possibility of a Rossi replica signature streetbike model del Torchio replied in the affirmative without specifying the time frame.
“In due time, in due time. Now it’s too early to say, but in due time you can expect.”
Rossi still in pain in return to action
By Michele Lostia and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, January 27th 2011, 09:36 GMT
Valentino Rossi made his return to action on Wednesday when he tested a Ducati 1198 Superbike at the Misano circuit in Italy.
Seventy-three days after an operation to his right shoulder, the Italian was back in action to complete his first test to check the status of his injury.
The test was not as positive as expected, however, and Rossi was in quite some pain just a few days before the first official test of the MotoGP season at Sepang.
"The track more or less confirmed what we expected: the shoulder is painful — especially under braking, when the front area hurts, where they stitched the tendon," said Rossi.
"Movement is stable enough, and we're also doing not so bad with endurance, but apart from that, it hurts a lot and isn't very strong.
"Let's hope it gets a little better in these next few days before the test in Malaysia. Once we're there, we'll work with the riding position in an effort to make the most of the situation and collect important information with the Desmosedici, even though I'm not in top form."
Team manager Vittoriano Guareschi admitted the whole team was expecting Rossi to be in better shape, and claimed the Italian will be far from his best when the season kicks off.
"We had all expected him to go better, especially he expected that," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Valentino will arrive in Malaysia with only 50% of his strength. Each time he begins to turn right, the pain makes his arm fail.
"In the first test he will be able to do just a few laps, but it would be great if on the third day he could do two or three runs of consecutive laps, in order to at least understand if we have taken the right path with the modifications done after the Valencia test.
"Meanwhile, we have seen that, by modifying the riding position on the saddle and by moving the handlebars a bit, the strain on the shoulder gets a bit better."
The Sepang test kicks off on 1 February.
By Michele Lostia and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, January 27th 2011, 09:36 GMT
Valentino Rossi made his return to action on Wednesday when he tested a Ducati 1198 Superbike at the Misano circuit in Italy.
Seventy-three days after an operation to his right shoulder, the Italian was back in action to complete his first test to check the status of his injury.
The test was not as positive as expected, however, and Rossi was in quite some pain just a few days before the first official test of the MotoGP season at Sepang.
"The track more or less confirmed what we expected: the shoulder is painful — especially under braking, when the front area hurts, where they stitched the tendon," said Rossi.
"Movement is stable enough, and we're also doing not so bad with endurance, but apart from that, it hurts a lot and isn't very strong.
"Let's hope it gets a little better in these next few days before the test in Malaysia. Once we're there, we'll work with the riding position in an effort to make the most of the situation and collect important information with the Desmosedici, even though I'm not in top form."
Team manager Vittoriano Guareschi admitted the whole team was expecting Rossi to be in better shape, and claimed the Italian will be far from his best when the season kicks off.
"We had all expected him to go better, especially he expected that," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Valentino will arrive in Malaysia with only 50% of his strength. Each time he begins to turn right, the pain makes his arm fail.
"In the first test he will be able to do just a few laps, but it would be great if on the third day he could do two or three runs of consecutive laps, in order to at least understand if we have taken the right path with the modifications done after the Valencia test.
"Meanwhile, we have seen that, by modifying the riding position on the saddle and by moving the handlebars a bit, the strain on the shoulder gets a bit better."
The Sepang test kicks off on 1 February.
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