Kishen Subramaniam shares his long-term ownership review of the Bajaj Dominar 400. Reasons to buy, maintenance cost, mileage, ride and handling, recommended modifications and more.
my dominor is 2 months old 2000kms done. pretty much happy with performance, headlights (I never tested on highway though) bybre brakes are good they can be a bit more better. DO NOT COMPARE IT WITH DUKE/RC 390 for God's sake.
there are vibrations and unusual sounds from the tank, if you are not wearing a helmet you might get irritated of those sounds, and after my 300kms weekend ride there were some wired sounds from my rear wheels disk. hope bajaj will take care of this soon
Duke comes with sinthered pads i guess, also they weigh really less so stop faster and the weight distribution aids braking faster. having said that, dominar's brakes are more than sufficient and provide ample of bite and stopping power.
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This was a great review. I think the headlight issue is common for all LED types. I'm having a 2017 Duke 390, I have faced similar issue when I was in highway. In normal streets the light was fine, but on open highway, the road illumination was pretty bad. So I guess it's a common downside of LEDs (at least the one used in bikes here.) Waiting for an honest opinion (not a fan boy) from an owner of the new FZ which also has LED lights
good review but the owner is wrong about the recommended fuel grade , it is nowhere stated by the company to use high octane fuel in the owners manual it is clearly written recommended grade as RON 91 which is the standard fuel sold all across the country. Plus he also stated higher service cost free service with oil change only cost around 1250 inr which includes Bajaj Dtsi 10000 engine oil 1.5ltrs , oil filter and filter o ring. And if he stops looking at headlights of on coming traffic and concentrate on the way ahead he can feel that the headlights are good enough one of the best OE headlight setup.
The dominar has the same engine as the ktm it's only tuned and geared differently and that is because this is more of a cruiser than a racing machine. What is the reason for ktm being expensive to maintain?
Lifestealer clocked 9000kms and Sanjay 14000 . I think they would have given better review if quikr would had approached . This guy in the video seems to have very less knowledge on the bike inspite of having a ns200
Phantom Rides hehe I know ✌🏻 but I don't agree with the stickiness of the tires, what do u say phantom!? . I guess he hasn't rode with pirelli's or metzelers.
My husband used to have Pulsar during college time. I suggested him to buy this bike but he has perception that Bajaj bikes start making noise after few months (he said "bajaj ki bike khadak jaati hai"). Whether this is the case with Dominar also?
There is a lot of conflicting comments when it comes to the ABS of this motorbike. Some say its too intrusive and bajaj could have given an option to switch it off altogether, some say it is a little slow and that it could kick in earlier. I think there is a general lack of understanding of what and how an ABS works. It would be extremely helpful if someone could explain the mechanics of an ABS and especially on how it works on this motorbike.
I am completely hooked up between dominar 400 and pulsar 220f. While urge to have more power is pushing me towards dominar at the same time the simplicity of 220f attracts me to herself. Dominar is really a capable machine but what set me back is its technologically loadedness. I love both the bikes but EFI of dominar is deal breaker for me, agreed that its way better than good old carburetor of 220f but its way more complicated and expensive as well. The non-abrestness of local mechanics with the EFI is major worry. I would take the 220f to any local mechanic for its service but I am skeptical about it when it comes to dominar. Further I have enough for me at commuter space as my Yamaha Saluto serves me well there, and what I am looking now for is tourer where both the bike mentioned here fits well. Listening to the horrendous stories of EFI breakdown of thunderbird owners force me to keep my hands away from dominar. Imagining the EFI breakdown on deserted-loneny highway or abandoned countryside with my wife gives me feeling of nightmare (though I have not personally experienced it). My uses would mostly be sticked to fortnight long drives and once in a month or two to go for touring. As I will be using it for 300-500 kms/day touring I think I wont be going wrong with any of them. Pillion comfort is also very much of concern for me as almost all the time I would be travelling with my wife. What should I do? should I wait for sometime so that bajaj may go back to carburater on dominar as they did with pulsar 220F back then. Or should I go for Pulsar 220F itself.
Richard Robin nope it can't be a beginner bike . It's too much power in hands of a beginner . If you are looking to upgrade from 150/200cc bike then it is good
Overall a neat long term review. But could have been a better user review in terms of daily usage - mileage differences in city and highway, vibrations, does the engine gets heated? 373 CC-remember. Quikr Please put the Suzuki Gixxer SF FI or SF long term review in the pipeline, waiting for it.Quikr
Vibrations are lesser than RE but there is a buzz especially over the petrol tank. Milege is same as the reviewer. Heating problem is not as bad as KTM. There is heat which you can feel on your legs but its nothing severe.
Kishen Subramaniam What if Bybre is a Brembo company? Would you call a Jaguar a Tata just because Tata owns it? Brembo brakes are top notch. Bybre is much much inferior.
It is not the Excellent "Brembo" brakes you see it on expensive bikes... ByBre is the short for "By Brembo" which is made by Brembo for the cheaper bikes which are on a tight budget.. So, Calling dominar brakes Brembo is not a sensible move..
rupesh tyson you are paying higher amount for refinement, vibe free ride ,one of the best and cheaper services , inverted forks , radial calipers , pirellis, better parts durability
rupesh tyson ...no i am a type who goes for reliability... durability refinement and particularly quality which bajaj can't offer.....i have two bajaj bike so i know wat r the so called quality standards of bajaj....maybe u r the type that prefers bikes that are unreliable...no where near refinement.
let's consider for 40k kms... my STD 350cc UCE (Heavy Crank) gives 45kmpl (company claims 52kmpl, because it's a company! not a rider :D ), even if i do 90km/hr-100/hr all the time its 40kmpl...!!! STD350 - 40k kms/40kmpl = 1,000 liters aka 65,000 INR** petrol for 40k kms :) I've done 13 services with 3k kms interval (750 INR, no oil change x 6 = 4500 INR; 1200 INR for oil change x 7 = 8400 INR) costing me 13k INR *RE STD 350 TOTAL : 65k + 13k = 80k INR :)* Dominar gives 25kmpl-26kmpl (company claims 30kmpl, and it's not considered, of course); say you ride near tripple digit speeds at 90-100km/hr, it may drop below 25kmpl, let's stick on to 25 (because number is cute :-p ) Dominar - 40k kms/25kmpl = 1,600 liters aka 1,04,000 INR** needed to cover 40k kms :( It also has service interval of 3k kms (no oil change) and 6k kms (oil change); 13 services x 1200 = 15.6k; *Dominar TOTAL : 104k + 15.6k = 120k INR :(* **=petrol rate being 65 INR/ltr _PS : MY STD 350 UCE COSTS 1.25LAKH ON ROAD comparatively to Dominar's 1.65LAKH (standard vr) B-)_
The std 350cc uce makes 19.8 bhp while the dominar makes 34.5 bhp. thats not the only factor, abs breaking, electronic fuel injection, a slipper clutch all make the riding experience a lot more smoother. Its a lot more than jut mileage numbers and finally i like to point out the vibrations on the RE, thats just a strain man
Dominor Service is at 5k kms and not 3k kms. Due to superior metallurgy used in heavy crank bike,it breaks Acc/decompressor wire often and break-shoe need replacement at 5k kms, so you can save money on petrol by your calculation but what's the use when heavy crap wount stop in time of emergency as it doesnt have ABS.
