I agree, and dislike the current trend with "chopped off arse".
Usually I’m in the minority on style and marketing matters, but I think here it’s the guys who really like sporty looks and have those bikes in our past that like that look. The first mod almost everybody makes to their sportbike? Tail tidy/fender eliminator kit. From a marketing perspective, I think Triumph’s trying to walk a line, and steal some H-D and Indian guys looking for something different, but also some aging sportbike guys. And as you might expect for someone who likes the fanny of this bike, I think the butt of the Diavel is also one of the prettiest ever on a cruiser-segment bike.
I LOVE the look of this bike, (except the radiator, which I know is necessary, and even so, a drastic improvement over the huge-and-hideous-add-on look of the previous generation); it’s one of the reasons I‘m 99% gonna buy one. Of course, it’s all subjective, and on such matters, as always, YMMV. No wrong opinions.
Don’t get me wrong on even that. IMO, fenders CAN be gorgeous, like the fully-valenced, old-school, two-tone fenders on the Indian Chief Vintage. And they can also be functional but fugly, like those on the rear of the K1600 series, where they’re even adjustable downward if you know you’ll be riding through a lot of rain, but have literally no style value at all.