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2011 Ducati Diavel Breaks Cover at EICMA

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The 2011 Ducati Diavel has leaked ahead of its debut in a few hours at EICMA, showing us the final lines of Ducati’s performance cruiser. Performance is the key word here with the Ducati Diavel boasting features like: 162hp Testastretta 11º engine, 94 lbs•ft of torque, 456lbs (carbon) / 463lbs (base), radial brakes, ABS, traction control, ride-by-wire, and three riding modes. Other features include keyless ignition (as found on the Multistrada 1200), a split dash (as we revealed earlier), fold-up passenger pegs, and a carbon version of the Diavel (aptly named the Diavel Carbon) which sheds 7lbs of weight over the base model by adding carbon fiber body panels and forged Marchesini rims.

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Bikes

2011 Honda CBR250R – We Shall Call It…Mini-Me

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Do not adjust your computer screen, this not a revised version of the VFR1200F, nor is it the V4 adventure bike we expect Honda to debut next week, it’s not even the bastard love child from a CBR and a Cylon, it is in fact the brand new 2011 Honda CBR250R. A 250cc motorcycle for the rest of us, Honda hopes to snag new riders by offering a more practical street bike in the Japanese, European, Australian, and yes, even American markets later this spring.

Raising the bar a bit, the CBR250R comes with optional C-ABS brakes, which will like be mandatory in the European Union, if the EU Commission has anything to say about it. With performance figures coming in at 26hp and 17 lbs•ft of torque, the fuel-injected Honda CBR250R isn’t going to blow anyone out of the water, but that’s sort the point behind the quarter-liter bike, which should be more than capable of scooting around a young rider on city streets and back-road routes.

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Bikes

First Official Photos of the 2011 Ducati Diavel – Traction Control, ABS, Multiple Driving Modes, & 456lbs

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UPDATE: Ducati USA just sent us a larger version of the photo posted on Facebook (enhanced version above). Check out the key entry for the trunk under the tail, and how the tail lights extend past the tail section to function as turn signals as well.

Ducati has just released the first official images of the 2011 Ducati Diavel on its website and Facebook page, thus beginning the teasing process as we lead up to the EICMA show in Milan in three weeks (and confirming the name Diavel in the process). Showing the ass end of the power cruiser, we get our first good glimpse of the carbon tank on the Diavel (rumors are the Ducati Diavel will come in two trim levels). Ducati has also announced that the Diavel will sport ABS, Ducati Traction Contorl, multiple riding modes, and weigh 456lbs.

Ducati has also confirmed that the 2011 Ducati Diavel will use the Testastretta 11° engine found on the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200, but has coyly made no mention of power figures, leading us to take an educated guess that the “Devil” makes a bit more power than its sport-touring cousin.

Smaller details are starting to come out as well, as we see the frame will get some red paint (as inked-in earlier), along with a central racing stripe down the tank and tail. We’ve brightened up the close-up photo after the jump, but don’t expect to see anything more than some pieces from the Ducati parts bin.

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Bikes

2011 Suzuki GSX1250FA Coming to the United States

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While Suzuki didn’t bring any new models to the United States last year, the Japanese company seems set on making up for that cardinal sin this year, and is now confirming that the 2011 Suzuki GSX1250FA, the fully-faired Bandit, is coming to the USA. We had originally speculated that the 2011 Suzuki GSX1250FA would make an appearance eventually in the US, and it turns out we only had to wait 365 days for that to occur. Patience is a virtue, right?

Suzuki announced the American launch of the GSX1250FA at the 2010 Suzuki Dealer Meeting in Las Vegas this week, and expects the full fairing Bandit to hit dealer floors in January 2011. If you prefer your Bandits to have a little bit more modesty, and to be covered up more, we think we have the bike for you.

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Bikes

2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R Becomes Officially Official

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Finally breaking cover officially, the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R made its official debut at Intermot this week. For 2011, Kawasaki has taken a ground-up approach to building its liter-bike offering, and the Japanese company has its eye squarely on racing in World Superbike for 2011. Developing the race bike ahead of the street model, the new ZX-10R should prove to be a monster of a machine with its 197hp at the crank power figure (207hp with ram air) and 436.6lbs curb weight (+12lbs for ABS). However, for the US market the bike will get watered down by 10hp or so for emissions, which Kawasaki is quietly trying to downplay.

As we reported earlier , Kawasaki like many other brands is bringing an optional ABS system to the sportbike genre, but Japanese firm has also brought a very sophisticated traction control system to the party, which will be a standard option. Taking measurements every 5 milliseconds from the front and rear tire pickups, throttle position sensor, engine speed, and other inputs, Kawasaki’s S-KTRC, according to the company, is the most advanced traction control system to-date in the consumer market. With pricing starting at $13,799 MSRP (+$1000 for ABS), we’d certainly hope it’s the most advanced sport bike on the market.

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Rumors

2011 Triumph Speed Triple Gets ABS

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One of our astute readers here at Asphalt & Rubber pointed out in . It’s no secret now that anti-lock braking systems are all the rage for street bikes, so it seems logical that Triumph would follow suit.

Now the real question remains whether the British brand will also field a traction control package, since TC systems often use these kind of sensors as well. Time will tell. Good eye Krylov!

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Reviews

Ride Review: 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring – Asphalt & Rubber Rides King Duc

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Dubbed the Best Motorcycle of the 2009 EICMA show, the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring has a lofty title that we’ve been itching to test since we saw the bike debut in Milan last year. While the new Multistrada 1200 comes in many flavors, we somehow managed to get our hands on the Multistrada 1200 S Touring version, or as we like to call it: “King Duc”. The Multistrada line has been Ducati’s attempt to be more than a sportbike-driven brand, and with this latest incarnation we can see that the Bologna-based company has taken a serious stab at making a go-anywhere GS-killer, with Italian style of course.

We were anxious to bring the Multistrada 1200 to our happy hunting grounds in Santa Barbara, CA where we had just recently test ridden the groundbreaking Honda VFR1200F a month back. Our adventures with the new Multi actually began with a very long and boring two-hour drive into Brea, CA on four wheels. Traveling on four wheels in Los Angeles is the stuff suicide notes are made of, and naturally the return trip from Brea was a more pleasurable experience for a certain test rider, than it was for one editor stuck in LA gridlock. Of course that didn’t stop me from having the pleasurable experience of becoming acquainted with the Multistrada 1200 in its natural territory, the open road.

Knowing the sporty nature of Ducati motorcycles (and the seemingly inverse relationship between sportiness and comfort), we were skeptical of how enjoyable the 150-mile ride back from Brea would be on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring. Suffering through the almost endless miles of parked cars on the highway that laid between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, I pulled over and sent the first text message back about the bike, “So much fun!!!!” it read, along with a picture of the Multistrada sitting on the side of dead-end road.

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Bikes

2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 Previewed

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The 2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 got an early preview today (no, another service manual was not leaked ahead of schedule), as a model of the bike was on-hand for the Piaggio Group’s grand opening of its new office in Milan. Releasing the first official image of the Dorsoduro 1200, Aprilia hasn’t dropped too many surprises on us. Noticeable in the shot is the optional ABS package, and we get news that the 2010 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 will use a different traction control system that will be found on the 2011 Aprilia RSV4 Factory.

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Rumors

Rumor: 2011 Aprilia RSV4 to get Traction Control?

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UPDATE: The 2011 Aprilia RSV4 will get traction control according to sources close to the company.

Well this didn’t take long. No sooner did the 2011 Aprilia Tuono V4 show up sporting signs of an anti-lock braking system and rumors of a traction control system, do we know hear rumblings from Italian site OmniMoto about the 2011 Aprilia RSV4 getting similar treatment. Whether its an informed postulation or idle speculation, Aprilia seems certain to offer ABS and traction control on the Aprilia RSV4, as it logically aims to compete with the offerings from Ducati and BMW.

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