2025 Ducati XDiavel V4 Is a Successful Mash-Up

Car and Driver

2 days ago

As a Ducati Monster owner, I ride with the Ducati Motor Club Denver during riding season. Our club president leads most rides, and he sets a brisk pace on our twisty mountain roads. What always surprised me is that he rides an XDiavel—the Ducati cruiser with forward-mounted pegs—not a configuration I associate with speed. But after spending a day on Ducati's new XDiavel V4, I'm beginning to understand why he gets around so well.
My mental disconnect between cruisers and Ducatis comes about because the company—based in Bologna, Italy—is best known for serious sport bikes. In the World Superbike Championship, Ducati has won 20 manufacturers' titles, including the last three. And in MotoGP—the two-wheeled world's equivalent to F1—Ducati riders have won the last three championships too.
View Photos
Bradley Hartman
|
Car and Driver
So, while the company builds standards, scramblers, adventure bikes (the moto world's equivalent of SUVs), and naked sport bikes, the tone of the company has long been set by sleek and sexy 916s, Panigales, and their high-powered, sleekly faired siblings.
The Diavel, revealed in 2010, goes in a different direction. It has a roomier, more upright seating position, a larger and wider frame, muscular styling, and a fat rear tire.
The XDiavel, introduced in 2016, takes this one step further with forward-mounted foot controls—in classic chopper style. This position is comfortable during long rides because the rider's legs are essentially straight forward, rather than folded underneath, as on most motorcycles. However, with your feet forward of your body, you can't do much to shift your riding position while carving corners.
View Photos
Bradley Hartman
|
Car and Driver
Turns out, that's not so critical when you're running at less than knee-dragging speeds. Despite its roughly 550-pound weight, long 63.8-inch wheelbase, and enormous 240-section rear tire, the XDiavel feels agile and responsive in town or on the road. A wide handlebar helps, along with carefully profiled tires that seem very willing to roll into corners.
View Photos
Ducati
Also useful is the XDiavel V4 engine's counter-rotating crankshaft that partially offsets the gyroscopic effect of the wheels and tires. This is particularly important when a bike has a large and undoubtedly heavy rear wheel and tire.
This 1.2-liter V-4 engine, known as the Desmosedici, is new to the XDiavel, though it has been replacing the big-bore V-twins in all of Ducati's more powerful bikes since its introduction in 2018. While the Stradale version of this engine makes well over 200 horsepower in the sportiest bikes, the XDiavel gets the Granturismo version, which has milder tuning and conventional rather than desmodromic valve gear, for simpler and less frequent service intervals (37,000-mile valve adjustments).
View Photos
Ducati
Still, the engine develops 166 horsepower at 10,750 rpm and 93 pound-feet of torque at 7500 revs. More importantly, it makes plenty of torque below 4000 revs, so you don't have to wring its neck to move briskly.
And since this engine replaced a 90-degree V-twin, which inherently produced uneven power impulses, Ducati gave it an unusual firing order called Twin Pulse, created by grouping the firing pulses together in the 90-degree V-4, with a 70-degree crankpin offset. After the first cylinder fires, the next one fires 90 degrees later, followed by a third one 200 degrees later, and the last one 90 degrees after that. Then there's nothing for 340 degrees until the first cylinder fires again.
This feels nothing like the homogenized, equally spaced firing intervals on the typical inline-four engine, which is the point. The Ducati V-4 couldn't feel more different, especially at low rpm and part throttle when the rear two cylinders are deactivated to improve fuel efficiency, spreading the power pulses even further. Interestingly enough, this is the firing cadence used in the MotoGP version of this engine, because the uneven firing impulses cause the rear tire to break and regain traction in a way that makes high-speed drifts easier to control.
View Photos
Ducati
Wind this engine out, and it starts to scream nicely from both its intake side and its quad-outlet muffler. The bike accelerates hard as well. You can shift the XDiavel conventionally, but it comes standard with Ducati Quick Shift 2.0, which lets you shift up and down without the clutch. The downshifts are seamless, but smooth upshifts require learning to roll off the throttle at just the right time while activating the shift pedal.
What took longer was getting used to the forward foot pegs. It was not a problem coming to a stop, where the lowish 30.3-inch seat height made it easy to get both feet flat on the pavement. But from a roll, our feet were searching for the nonexistent pegs under the seat. At least we never stabbed into the pavement while underway.
View Photos
Ducati
Once in the proper position, the XDiavel was very comfortable, with a cushy ride; a wide, supple saddle; and easy-to-reach controls, both on the pegs and on the wide handlebar that was at the perfect height. The only downside to this riding position is that you start to feel like a parachute as you get up to freeway speeds. Anyone planning to tour on this bike should invest in Ducati's accessory windshield.
Most riders, however, will use the XDiavel in town, where it works very well and you can show off its beautiful styling. Viewed from the saddle, the fuel tank looks to be a foot and a half wide, tapering artfully to the narrow spot where it joins the saddle. Then it spreads out again, providing a comfortable perch and creating an hourglass overhead shape. Viewed from the side, the saddle is cantilevered above the rear wheel, which is supported by a single-sided swing, showing off its size and styling to best advantage.
A 6.9-inch infotainment screen provides all of your basic riding information and can be customized ad nauseam using rocker switches on the left switch cluster. Figuring out the menus takes a bit of time and is best not attempted while underway. Typical ride modes—Sport, Touring, Urban, and Wet—are offered, along with extensive customization of the various traction control, wheelie control, and anti-lock braking functions. Cruise control is also standard, and it even comes with launch control to optimize traction and stability during a drag-strip start.
Ducati calls the XDiavel a Sport Cruiser—a combination of a sport bike and a cruiser. We'd say it leans more toward the cruiser camp, but I can't argue with the performance it delivers. The bike isn't cheap, starting at $30,290 with the Burning Red metallic finish ($300 more for the Black Lava metallic option). But Ducati is a premium brand, the motorcycle is beautifully designed and finished, and it sports an impeccable sporting heritage. For riders who want more performance than the typical comfortable cruiser can deliver, the XDiavel V4 is an intriguing option.
View Photos
Bradley Hartman
|
Car and Driver
Specifications
Specifications
2025 Ducati XDiavel V4
Vehicle Type: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 1+1-passenger, 0-door motorcycle
PRICE
Base: $30,290
ENGINE
DOHC 16-valve V-4, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 71 in3, 1158 cm3
Power: 166 hp @ 10,750 rpm
Torque: 93 lb-ft @ 7500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
6-speed manual
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 63.8 in
Length: 90.5 in
Width: 29.7 in
Seat Height: 30.3 in
Curb Weight (C/D est): 550 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 3.0 sec
1/4-Mile: 10.8 sec
Top Speed: 155 mph
Reviewed by
Csaba Csere
Contributing Editor
Csaba Csere joined Car and Driver in 1980 and never really left. After serving as Technical Editor and Director, he was Editor-in-Chief from 1993 until his retirement from active duty in 2008. He continues to dabble in automotive journalism and WRL racing, as well as ministering to his 1965 Jaguar E-type, 2017 Porsche 911, 2009 Mercedes SL550, 2013 Porsche Cayenne S, and four motorcycles—when not skiing or hiking near his home in Colorado.