Last month Ducati announced that it would be rolling out nine new models for the model year 2016. Along with this announcement, Ducati strategically also revealed the new 2016 Ducati Monster 1200R at the Frankfurt IAA and also the 2016 Ducati Diavel Carbon. But the recent spy photos tell an entirely different story all together when it comes to the 2016 Ducati Diavel.

This new Ducati Diavel in the above picture was spied during its testing at the end of September 2015. Though the bike appears in keeping with the same sport cruiser styling of the earlier Diavel, the pictures seem to show a great deal of new changes to the direction Ducati is heading with the actual new 2016 Ducati Diavel. The Ducati Diavel Carbon “Edition” seems to be just a stock-clearance strategy adopted by Ducati.

Looking at the spy shots of the new Diavel, it is pretty clear that Ducati is planning to capture a greater share of the sport cruiser market in North America. The earlier Diavel’s were sort of a European take on the sport cruiser segment and weren’t much of a scare to its direct competitors.

A major change that catches the naked eye is the belt final drive which is first for Ducati. The reasons as to why Ducati has come up with the sudden shift to belt drives would be difficult to answer. The new Diavel appears to have a revised frame and geometry which changes the stance of the bike and makes it much lower. The rear suspension gets a re-design with an offset mono-shock probably inspired by the Panigale. Ducati have even opted for a new “drive-through” style single sided swing-arm design and the wheelbase seems to be considerably extended. To the right of the bike, the exhaust seems to be re-routed moving away from the Italian manufacturer’s signature styling. The new Diavel also sports an under-belly exhaust with two ports instead of the side swung design. As an inclination to the new unexpected American-styled design, even the foot pegs are forward-mounted which would make the seating style more relaxed and cruiser-like.

Apart from these mechanical changes, the spied 2016 Ducati Diavel sports a new headlight assembly and new re-designed tank without the side mounted radiator intake scoops. The rear cowling happens to be quiet small which implies that Ducati are trying to make the new Diavel a solo-rider.

All the new changes to the new 2016 Ducati Diavel suggests a major shift in the design ideology of the Borgo Panigale based motorcycle manufacturer. This new avatar of the Diavel appears to be a move towards the Harley Davidson V-Rod’s front doors. The answers to all our questions have to hopefully wait until its official release at the EICMA in Milan in November.

Article source : http://www.autoevolution.com/news/spyshots-of-the-belt-driven-ducati-diavel-show-a-much-different-beast-100490.html