Curved ball: a 1260 Diavel. It isn't a cruiser, that's the X Diavel. The 1260/1260S is a roadster. Basically a Monster on steroids, especially if you fit the higher comfort seat so you're sitting on top of the bike instead of crouched down inside it. Big power, big presence but very nimble.
My problem is that the bike has to look nice. The front wind guard above the headlamp looks odd. The new generation of Monster also looks odd. Ducatis, like the Monster, used to show off the engine. Now the Ducati trend on naked bikes is to hide the engine behind all sorts of stuff. Plastic moulding seems to be in. If I spend good money on an expensive nike, then I want it to look good. Nothing in the Ducati range does look good. And then they ruin the Panigale V2 with showing off the exhaust pipe that they couldn't ne bothered to tuck in behind the fairing. The engine is hidden behind a full-fairing. That's OK, but why do they think that a potential owner would have a "thing" about being able to see an exhaust pipe?
Yes. Pillion accommodation is withthe comfort seat is actually pretty good. Better than most nakeds. Mine has the pillion backrest which I don't much like as I never carry a pillion. But I like the boot scraper numberplate hanger even less and if I got rid of the rear tail light unit which the backrest is part of, I'd have to reinstate the underseat lights which would mean losing the high-level tail tidy and going back to the boot scraper, so I'm learning to love the back rest. And it is handy for strapping tail packs to.
Hardly any bikes look nice nowadays. They're all covered in black plastic and tubing. The Diavel actually looks pretty damn smart in the metal as there's lots of very neat little touches on it that don't really show up in pics, and the lines are nice as you walk round. It gets a lot of attention so it must be doing something right. Personally, as long it's not an absolute pig, I don't much care. I'm far more interested with how it rides, and after my few personalising mods, the Diavel is fantastic in that department. I would like to tone down the monotone black plastic with some sleek carbon, and maybe a set of milled X Diavel belt covers which I've always thought looked nice. And I plan to loose the brushed aluminium intake duct covers and replace with carbon as I don't much like the brushed raw metal look. It's very industrial. Triumph go overboard with it on their bikes.
I like the Royal Enfield Guerillla 450 and the Triumph Speed 400 and there is other stuff. I have a list somewhere. Now, I am a bit odd and I accept that. I am obsessed with weight as I my left leg has been badly messed up, so it is not strong enough to hold up anything heavy. To illustrate my mental brain damage, I have even been looking at scooters. that would save my hip being worked hard to throw a leg over the saddle. I've never owned, nor wanted a scooter before, but now my interest has been raised. What are they like to own and ride. Anyone know?
