KIWI RIDER 11 2019 VOL1 | Page 49

OTHER WORLDS? AND FINALLY... There is another iteration of it. The Diavel S, which comes with Öhlins and carbon. So that’s the one I’d get because I’m shallow and venal – and I would not care it costs some five grand more, and nor will you. The Diavel is a great bike. I didn’t expect it to be. But it was. I have rarely enjoyed riding a bike (and riding it hard) as much as I enjoyed the Diavel. The power and its delivery, coupled with the bike’s insane ability to handle while still managing to look like an angry steel war-totem, really resonated. I appreciated the Diavel on an emotional level because that’s where it got me. It made me feel indomitable. The Sachs shocks on this Diavel are excellent, as are the Brembo M4.32s – and I did haul on them hard enough to make that call – but a Diavel with Öhlins and Brembo M50s – and a Goddamn Hallelujah quickshifter! – would take the whole bear-strangling match to another level. And that is truly Old Time Religion. It only comes in this war-jet grey, which Ducati calls Sandstone Grey. The Diavel S gets that killer red frame and come in Total, Utter and Complete Black, as well as the grey colour. KIWI RIDER 49