What a day.

I bimbled down to my Ducati owning pal today, to discover that he's not only
bought a Diavel and an 1198SP, but he just bought a Hypermotard too, so I
was a bit spoiled for choice.

Which one to ride? Well the 1198 was out of the question, coz I can't adopt
the riding position for more than 5 minutes without calling an ambulance, so
it was between the Hyper and the Diavel. As the Hyper is a "typical"
motorbike and obviously would be a blast to ride, I decided to give the
Diavel a go.

What a fucking surprise *that* turned out to be.

I was half expecting it to be not much more than a quick cruiser, but
nothing could be further from the truth. Granted the sitting position is
more cruiser than sprotbike and it feels like it weighs a ton when it's sat
still, but ***** me* all that weight disappears the instant the clutch is
let out.

I've read a multitude of reviews of various heavy bikes over the years and
the "It loses its weight when you get moving" cliche' actually grates on me,
but on this particular bike, it seems to be true.

If you stick your arse halfway up the "riser" at the rear edge of the seat,
it's a little more "normal" and puts you in a slightly leaned forward
position, which is nice and gives a feeling that the thing could be hustled
along quite nicely. Bit of an understatement really, coz you can hustle the
fucker along with abandon and it's piss easy.

A bit vibey at any revs below 4000. but after that it's as sweet as a nut.
No vibes in the mirrors even up to 130 and surprisingly, given that it's
esseantially a naked bike, not an enormous amount of windblast either. All
day riding at 90 - 100 would be as simple as.

It corners. No really, it corners effortlessly and it leans and I mean
*really* leans. Ok, it's never going to be an elbow down bike (unless you
fall of the fucker), but falling off it in a corner would seem to be a bit
of a job to achieve. I'm sure it lays rails in front of you as you ride.

Apparently it's got those "rider modes" (Urban, "Something" and Sport), but
it was in sport and I didn't know how to change it so I left well alone.
Obviously that makes it a bit quick at answering the throttle for use around
town, but other than that, it's a great ride. I'm not sure if the mode
button affects the suzzies (I'm told it does, but..) the ride is a little
harsh when you're bimbling, but perfect when you're letting it have a little
of its head. 161 bhp and **** knows how much torque but... enough. To be
honest, it frightened the **** out of me when I gave it everything it had,
but the brakes are as good as the power. My eyeballs are just recovering
after being splattered into my visor. Fucking good job I had it down or
they'd be somewhere along the A57, still rolling.

The R1 rider who thought he'd come past me now knows it's not going to
happen unless the rider of the Duc wants him to.

The acceleration is out-fucking-standing and I really wouldn't have believed
it if I hadn't been on it. It's FAR too much bike for me, but it was a great
ride and I *will* be doing it again.

In summary, it's (to use the septic vernacular) fucking awesome, so I'd
suggest that you forget what you *think* this bike is going to be like and
get a test ride. As a final note, King Karl bought one this week too.

I wonder why?