The Ducati Diavel for Bentley confirmed the V4 cruiser’s position as Ducati’s most luxurious bike. But its history is long by now, and delving into it can bring up a relative bargain.
Last week’s launch of the Ducati Diavel for Bentley was also the launch of the most expensive production motorcycle, 2023, from a mainstream manufacturer. Bentley’s ‘standard’ Diavel costs £58,000, and the Mulliner version costs £71,000.
That’s barely a grain of sugar in the cake that is the £1.7 million Bentley Batur from which the Diavel for Bentley got its design inspiration, but it’s a positively colossal price tag for a bike.
So, let’s take it down a notch, or 10, to the 2011 Ducati Diavel, the original version of this revival model. The one pictured here is up for £6,386, less than one-tenth of the price of the Diavel for Bentley Mulliner.
Does that mean, then, it’s one-tenth of the bike? Well, if nine-tenths are accounted for by green paint, then yes, but otherwise, probably not.
On the subject of paint, this one is a rare non-red Ducati, but the Diavel suits black pretty well, especially with the matching black wheels. In this case, those wheels are fitted with white-walled Pirellis, which are probably intended to mirror the tire stripes Pirelli paints on its F1 tire sidewalls, but we think they make them look like soft-compound Bridgestones from the pre-Michelin era of MotoGP.
In any case, the black paint, the black wheels, and, in this case, the white sidewalls all combine with the red steel frame to create a truly devilish look.
Being a 2011 model, this Diavel uses a V-twin, something Ducati is moving away from in its spendier bikes with its apparent desire to fit more or less anything non-entry-level with a V4. But that’s not an indication of the V-twin’s lack of potency: its 162bhp is only six ponies down on the Granturismo V4 that the modern Diavel uses, and the old twin-cylinder had around three lb-ft more torque than the new V4.
Add to that the looks above, and it’s easy to see the appeal of the old Diavel. Combine that with a price tag of around £17,000 less than a current Diavel straight from the showroom, and it’s hard to argue that what you’re looking at here is a genuine bargain.
