MCN Fleet: XDiavel tours on cruise control

Emma explores the super cruiser's touring ability on a long ride to North Wales

The XDiavel has proved it’s the cruiser that thinks it’s a sportsbike, but on a recent 250-mile ride-out recently, I found that the belt-drive behemoth also does a fair impression of a tourer, too. 

Entered to race my Honda RS125 in the ACU 125GP National Championship at Anglesey that weekend, as my partner (and crew chief) Bruce made the slow trip up to North Wales during the day – van crammed with race bike, spares and awning – work commitments meant that I had to wait until 5.30pm before I could hit the road myself.  So that evening I set off on a 250-mile trip north-west on the XDiavel, across country on the twisty roads through Rutland and Leicestershire, then onwards to Staffordshire and the M6 before picking up the M56 into North Wales. 

Despite not having a screen, motorway cruising on the XDiavel wasn’t too bad at all. The only slight discomfort I felt was from the upright seating position putting too much pressure on my bum, meaning I had to shuffle about on the seat a bit in order to get comfy. Plus, I also found temporary respite from this by moving my feet onto the pillion pegs through the 50mph roadworks on the M6. But for a naked bike, overall wind protection is fairly decent, thanks to a bit of shielding from that huge, bulbous fuel tank. 

On the subject of fuel, the XDiavel also proved itself decent in the range department too. Filling up the 18-litre tank as I left Peterborough I didn’t have to stop again for another 188 miles, allowing me to get three hours into my journey and all the way to Colwyn Bay before I needed to stop for fuel. That’s 47mpg.

The sun was setting as I left the traffic behind and rode the picturesque A55 along the North Wales coast, and this swooping, open dual carriageway provided the perfect opportunity for me to try out the XDiavel S’s cruise control function. Switching it on was simply a case of pressing the ‘on’ button on the left-hand switchgear and then toggling the speed up or down with plus and minus sections on the same switch. It was wonderful giving my right rest a rest after a fair few hours in the saddle, although I couldn’t take my hands completely off the bars as the XDiavel has a tendency to fall-in to the left-hand side, although it could’ve just been due to the camber of the road.

I rolled into Anglesey Circuit as dusk fell and the XDiavel’s smart light-sensitive dash and headlight flicked into night mode. Feeling remarkably fresh for my four-hour post-work stint in the saddle, I was impressed with the big, showy cruiser’s long-distance ability, and wouldn’t hesitate doing another, longer stint.