Hi Boggy, does your bike have the standard exhaust or does it have a race exhaust, and how much of a difference has the map made?
The throttle spacer eliminates the on/off throttle ambiguity at very low speed. When going from zero to 'just on' throttle,, dribbling through traffic and similar low speed manouvers. They do seem ridiculously expensive for what they actually are but IMHO they're worth it.
My 1260 Diavel has a throttle spacer. Absolutely no jerkiness at all. Smooth as silk. I had mine remapped at BHP-UK in Burnley. I'm in the same position as the OP, being near Newcastle. I know from first hand experience that Chris at CJS is probably the best dyno technician in the country, especially on Ducatis, with his comprehensive tuning of individual cylinders, but Bristol is just too far away. Very happy with what Cal at BHP did for my bike. I bought it standard and then had the full Termi system fitted with the Termi map if came with, but I wasn't happy with the fueling. It felt full of holes and flat spots and lacked oomph in the midrange. Because it counts as a stock part, the upmap supplied with the exhaust has to be Euro5 compliant so it's leaned out exactly where you ride it most. The remap transformed it. It's a different bike now with stacks more urgency and it's much smoother. It will now pull the higher gears from lower in the rev range. I used to consider 6th gear an overdrive, rarely used unless sitting at high speed on a dual carriageway. Now I frequently find myself on 6th in A roads pulling hard.
Interesting, I guess I have just adapted to the slack without really being conscious of it being an issue. I spent much of my life riding off road where some slack was beneficial. I will pay a bit more attention to it when I ride next! Cheers
Thanks for sharing your experience. I I was booked into CJS last month but had to cancel it because my recovery from the surgery I had did not go to plan and I was unable to ride. I will be looking to rebook with Chris when I am back up and running. I thought the full Termi and up map I fitted made a difference over standard but wanted to refine it further. In any event the 1260 and 1200 DVT bikes are a lot smoother (less character) than my original full Termi equipped 1200 ‘14 plate multi which was positively tractor like at low rpm - until Wilf at MR put a map on it for me at which point it just pulled and pulled and had almost no engine braking. Very fond memories of that bike. I have never ridden a 1260 Diavel but did ride a V4 one earlier in the year, one hell of a bike and had it not been for impending surgery I would have one in the garage now. Perhaps next year……
When I was looking into buying a 1260 Diavel I did a good bit of reading up and I was aware of snatchy throttle issue. When the bike arrived and I rode it I wondered what all the fuss was about. The throttle seems absolutely fine to me. When I booked it in with Nelly at Cornerspeed to have the Termi fitted I asked about having a throttle spacer at the same time but mentioned that it didn't feel at all bad to me. He said turn the throttle with the engine off and if you can't feel any slack in it, it's already had one fitted. I did that and couldn't detect any slack at all. So I'm assuming it has had one fitted. I haven't actually checked, but I'm perfectly happy with it. Quite different exhaust systems, of course, between the Multi and the Diavel, the Diavel's being underslung. Whether that makes a difference I don't know. I was really quite disappointed with the performance when I'd had it fitted. Nothing to do with Nelly's fitting obviously,which was exemplary as always. It's just down to the map it comes with, which as an authorised serviced centre he is obliged to load. I thought it felt slower than stock. Someone on the Diavel Forum said the same. In the midrange it felt unresponsive. I'd wind in some throttle and nothing seemed to happen. It only came alive at big throttle openings and higher revs. But that makes sense with the Euro5 map. To reduce the overall emissions over the life of the bike, if you lean it out where it will spend most of its time being ridden you get less fuel in and so fewer emissions out. Not Termi's fault, not Ducati's. Just the regulations. When it comes to character, it's all relative. Before the Diavel I had a Rocket 3 GT which was turbine smooth. That huge and lazy engine didn't even feel like a triple tbh, it was more like a straight six out of a big Mercedes car.. After that the 1260 felt proper gnarly. But though it's now much smoother I think it's got more characterful, not less. For a start it sounds utterly glorious, and because it's more tractable lower down it doesn't beg to be ragged all the time. If I feel like it I can kick back and just thud around at modest speeds and enjoy the thumping sound track and that enormous spread of torque you get with the DVT engine. And then when you want to wind it on it transforms seamlessly into an absolute animal. I've never ridden a V4 Diavel (or any V4 Ducati) but I'm more than happy with the 1260. Now it's had its edges polished it's just a glorious thing and probably the most enjoyable bike I've owned to date.
Your comments make a lot of sense and observations are very logical. I think I will get cjs to map the bike to get the best from it see how it is then make a call on the throttle spacers. Assuming I can get back riding! The mapping I had done on my first multi changed the whole feel of the bike - the map wilf had to hand was from a bsb bike rather than being optimised for my multi and termi. It worked a treat though and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Both my dvt 1200 and 1260 utilise the Ducati up map, which has far less impact other than a custom map - rather like the comments you make. I am well out of warranty now so happy to experiment with a custom map. The Diavel v4 was a real eye opener re performance but more so with power. It’s an absolute rocket which is exhilarating at the time but a concern re licence retention afterwards! The handling really took me by surprise given its looks and rear tyre size. I want to tour on my next bike and being able to easily get my leg over it is a good place to start!
I don't know how the V4 riding position compares but the 1260's foot peg position gives lots of welcome leg room, yet still manages to provide 41 degrees of lean. I'm 6' tall and found the stock seat to low. I fitted the comfort seat which lifts you up by 40mm and now it's luxuriously comfortable and has even more leg room, and because it's less cupped there's a lot more fore and aft wriggle room as well, which is very welcome. That was one thing I didn't like about the 1200 Multi. I felt rather locked in and pretty much had to sit where I was put. I have lower back issues and I like space to shuffle and not too much bend in my hips. The 1260 Diavel is now all-day comfortable. I could certainly tour on it but luggage options aren't great. The V4 may be better. Both the 1260 and the V4 Diavels make superb all-round bikes. I could have mine as a do-it-all only bike. It'll do pretty much everything a multi will do except tote masses of luggage.
Delkavic system which replaces end can, muffler/cat/ex valve dustbin and kept baffles in. Smooths the lumps and pickup. Greatly improves the transition on acceleration from part throttle to half and wide open throttle. Gave me better mpg over a long run as well going from around 46mpg to 48mpg. No pops n bangs on decel either. Couldn't argue with all that.
I’ve got an Akro full system on my 1200s coupled with a Rapidbike Evo. I love it. Also I upped the rear sprocket by 2 teeth which makes it much happier at 30mph. I’m sure CJS would do a great job but I recommend this setup.
By the way, if you’re finding it jerky at slow town speeds try dropping it into urban mode. It makes mine much smoother around town. Then as soon as I’m out of town I up it to touring or Sport. It drops the bhp and the rear suspension which in turn must tighten the chain as well as changing the fly by wire throttle. It’s definitely smoother and easier to ride in slow traffic. The rear sprocket I got was Esjot, German and an Afam chain. Works for me.
TBH I don't have any problems with urban riding on my 1260 Diavel in Sport. Which makes me wonder about ergonomics and chassis set-up given the above point about suspension. I don't know if the Diavel and the Multi share the same gearbox ratios and final drive gearing. My 1098 is a pita around town and it's been remapped and is silky smooth but it's got a very tall first gear. It's also got a heavy clutch but I could cure that if I wanted to.
