First Look at the 2027 Ducati Diavel V4 S, the Muscle Bike That Might Make Your Harley-Riding Neighbor Secretly Jealous
Your Harley-riding neighbor will tell you he’d never buy a Ducati. Then he’ll walk over, look at that 240 rear tire and ask how much horsepower it makes.
Tell him 168. See how long it takes him to ask what it sounds like.
Ducati has updated the Diavel for 2027 and added a V4 S to the lineup. It still has the proportions that make a cruiser guy look twice. The seat sits low, the tank looks like it belongs on a bigger bike, and there’s enough rubber out back to start an argument about whether anybody needs that much tire. Which, of course, is half the point.
Where the Harley guy starts asking questions
If you still miss your V-Rod, or you’ve ever walked past a row of baggers to get a closer look at a Triumph Rocket 3, you’re probably the cruiser rider Ducati has the best shot at winning over. You already know the appeal of a bike that looks like somebody built it around the motor.
The Diavel’s 1,158cc V4 makes its peak 93 lb-ft of torque at 7,500 rpm and hits 168 horsepower at 10,750. Those numbers hint at a different kind of ride from a big American V-twin. On your Harley, you might roll on the throttle and feel the shove without giving the tach a thought. The Ducati gives you a reason to hold the gear a little longer just to see what happens next.
That’s the part I’d want to find out on a test ride. The horsepower figure gets your attention, but how the bike feels rolling out of a 35-mph bend will tell a cruiser rider more than the spec sheet ever could.
What the S actually gets you
The regular Diavel V4 makes the same horsepower and torque. The S gets electronic Öhlins suspension front and rear, standard heated grips, and drops seven pounds on Ducati’s spec sheet. The suspension is the bit I’d pay attention to. If your favorite ride home adds 40 miles and a stretch of rough two-lane, I’d want to see what the Öhlins does with those bumps when you’re leaned over.
For the rider who spends Saturdays two-up behind a fairing with the saddlebags packed, this probably isn’t the bike that sends your Harley to Facebook Marketplace, but I can see a lifelong cruiser guy taking the Diavel out for a demo and coming home wondering how much room he could make on the other side of the garage.
And your neighbor? He’ll still tell everybody he’s a Harley guy. But he’s already daydreaming about taking that Ducati out for a test ride, and he feels about as guilty as he does when he thinks about cheating on his wife.
He’s already practicing what he’ll tell his buddies in the local H.O.G. chapter if they catch him on it. “What? I would never BUY one...it's butt ugly, but damn it's fast.”
Photos courtesy of Ducati Media House.
