The Ducati XDiavel V4 Is Fast, Expensive, And Looks Great, But Beyond That I'm Confused

On my own motorcycles and on bikes I've tested for months at a time, I've made the mistake of taking a corner too aggressively without setting my body up for the proper lean angle, specifically my feet. And in many cases, that leaves me with the unfortunate surprise of scraping the front of my boots on the ground at speed. 

It has happened less and less over the years, but sometimes, when I'm getting used to a new bike, the angle of a road I'm riding on and my poor foot position will combine for a bit of surprising boot scraping. It never fails to scare the hell out of me, but the 2026 Ducati XDiavel V4 gave me a whole new experience: scraping my heel.

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Even on the lowest-slung cruiser bikes I've ridden, I've never scraped a heel. Why? They typically aren't the kind of sporty bikes that I attack canyon corners with. The XDiavel V4, though, has a rare combination of riding styles. It has a cruiser body position, with your feet kicked out in front of you and the comfortable, plush saddle inviting you for a relaxing ride, but pairs that with almost naked-sport-bike styling, and a big powerful V4 engine. So when you go diving into a corner and the Pirelli tires give you the sort of feedback you're used to from a supersport, if you're not careful, you'll end up with fresh scrapes on the back of your motorcycle boots.

The XDiavel V4's powerplant is far and away the best part of this unique, laid-back, naked sportbike/cruiser machine. It's a 1,158cc V4, which Ducati refers to as the V4 Granturismo, that produces 168 horsepower and 93 lb-ft of torque. Peak horsepower arrives at 10,750 rpm. While that isn't an unexpected set of numbers for a V4 Ducati, the way the power arrives is pretty unique for something with such a relaxed riding position.

Torque swells when you're low in the rev range, instead of being snappy, which makes for smooth off-the-line acceleration. And there's enough thrust that you don't have to drop down a gear if you want to go for a pass on the highway: sixth gear will do just fine. The V4 picks up momentum as the engine's revolutions rise, though, giving it a distinctively sporty feel. It feels unexpectedly fast for its layout and before you know it, you're well beyond the speed limit. 

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Stopping the 505-pound cruiser is the next task and it takes a fair bit of pressure on both the front and the rear brake, but if you grip and step down hard, there's plenty of feedback from the Brembos. The quick shifter is less impressive, taking more pressure than I'd like to engage gears, but after getting used to its required strength of input, I didn't have any issues.

Despite its low-slung cruiser vibes, and my aforementioned snafu with proper foot position, the XDiavel is competent when it comes to cornering. It turns in quickly and manages to translate lots of stability through the seat and handlebars. Swooping up through the canyons, even with a heel scrape fresh in my mind, I didn't once lose confidence in the Ducati. The Pirelli Diablo Rosso III would be right at home on any high-performance motorcycle and their responsiveness shined through despite the decidedly non-sport-bike layout of the XDiavel V4.

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Engine braking doesn't slow the XDiavel down much either. More than once, I was pleasantly surprised by how little speed it scrubbed off in the corners, even if I laid completely off the throttle. It's hefty, but the XDiavel changes direction quickly for its size, only requiring a bit of extra input from the handlebars for plenty of lean. It's certainly not as fast as its sibling, the track-beast Panigale V4, but the XDiavel is fast enough to be entertaining on back roads at an enthusiastic pace.

I wasn't expecting a very cool experience on the XDiavel V4, at least not in regards to engine temperature. In my experience, big Ducatis run hotter than several other brands. But with the XDiavel V4 lacking fairings, I had hoped it might run reasonably cooler than the average sportbike. That wasn't the case. 

Even at highway speeds, with an ambient temperature below 80 degrees, the XDiavel V4's display read consistently over 200 degrees. Once that heat had soaked through the engine and the bike's components, it made its way to my legs. Heavy traffic moments were particularly warm and more than once I had to awkwardly splay out my knees for a bit of moving-air relief. It didn't seem to change performance at all, but it was warm nonetheless.

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Overall, the XDiavel V4 is relaxed and comfortable on most highways. The vibrations from the road and the big V4 engine however, do shake the rearview mirrors at highway speeds. Basically any time I went over 50 mph the view rearward through the mirrors became bouncy and blurry. Even ideal roads (which Los Angeles doesn't have many of) weren't smooth enough to make the mirrors stable. Whether it's at idle, or a 70-mph sixth-gear cruise on the highway, something's rumbling. The thick, wide, and well-padded seat did a pretty good job of isolating me from small road imperfections and the V4's rumbles, but most of the bigger stuff makes its way through.

The XDiavel V4, on top of being powerful and comfortable, is thoroughly modern. It has a large, nearly widescreen, 6.9-inch rider display to house the gauges and tech interface. Even in the brightest sun, the screen was still easily visible thanks to high contrast color schemes. Display information like lateral G forces certainly don't feel very cruiser like, but on a bike with such a high-performance powerplant, it makes at least a little bit of sense.

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Cruise control and four unique riding modes (Sport, Touring, Urban, Wet) come standard, as are wheel control, traction control, and a high-tech ABS system that allows for some amount of rear wheel lift during heavy duty braking. I didn't attempt any endos, so I'll just have to trust that the tech is there. There's also keyless start, which took some getting used to on my part, but it worked flawlessly throughout my test. Even with the key to the XDiavel V4 buried in the pocket of my thick leather jacket or in my backpack, it still started right up. Ducati says its range is about 1.5 meters, or almost five feet.

Even in the course of about a week with the XDiavel V4, each time I swung my leg over, I noticed something new about the bike. Lots of tiny details like the brand name molded into the handlebar grips, or the textured surfaces below the lens of the headlight, and the sub-headlight-plastic Ducati logo stood out over time. It's not the kind of bike you look at once and get a sense for everything it has to offer.

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Sure, the big four-barrel exhaust and the gorgeous rear wheel exposed on the right side via the single-sided swingarm on the left are immediately noticeable, but the tiny aesthetic touches take a second or third glance. The small Italian flag behind the front turn indicators, for instance, wasn't on my visual radar until the sun set behind the horizon and light hit the bike just right. 

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Looking that closely did mean I spotted some tiny panel inconsistencies, but you'd be hard pressed to find a two-wheeled machine with better materials and build quality. Others noticed it too. Out on the road, strangers marveled at the XDiavel V4, asked about it, and took lots of time admiring the details. That sort of attention and admiration, however, comes at a price.

There are no cheap Ducatis and the XDiavel V4 is an excellent example of that fact. This particular example came in the stock Burning Red color, and Black Lava is a $300 extra, but none of the Ducati's many accessories were equipped. A Touring package ($2,224.65) is available that adds side cases, heated grips, and a rear seat back. A full racing exhaust system (are people really racing their XDiavels?) will set you back nearly $6,500, and some carbon fiber mud guards will add over $500 each (front and rear) to the final price. Windscreens, lowered seats, forged aluminum wheels, specially-painted brake calipers, and even anodized oil filler plugs are all available for the taking if you write a check that's big enough. It's an accessorizing paradise. 

Without any options, the 2026 XDiavel V4 that I tested had an MSRP of $30,290 (including 1,295 destination fee). That hefty price puts the XDiavel V4 in some pretty exclusive space. Country-crossing cruiser bikes from Harley-Davidson and Indian often squeak past the $25,000 mark without an issue, but the XDiavel V4's best rival is probably the Triumph Rocket 3 with its massive 2,458cc three-cylinder engine. It's one of just a few bikes that has the proper upscale (and limited chrome) cruiser vibe to go along with its gargantuan power.

The Ducati XDiavel V4 has a curious combination of virtues. The supremely satisfying V4 engine gives it a unique character in its class and the ride is comfortable enough that I could breeze through a long summer road trip, asking for more miles at the end of each day. It has all the modern features you expect from an upscale cruiser and the build quality is nearly beyond reproach. It's seriously expensive, though, and pairing precise virtues like speed and laid-back comfort might be a hard sell for riders focused on one extreme or the other.

If you want an outrageously fast motorcycle that can attack corners, Ducati offers several of those, like the racy Streetfighter for or the previously-mentioned Panigale. Want something that can soak up miles while providing the latest tech? There are plenty of cruisers that can take on that task. If you can afford the big price tag, it has some upsides, you'll just need a very specific search criteria for the XDiavel V4 to fit your needs.