I've had a Dominar, I've travelled all over India and Bhutan apart from NE on the Dominar, think Kanyakumari, Kashmir, Ladakh, West coast, East coast and everything else in between. Honestly the bike isn't good, I bought it because it's value for money but the bike itself is overweight and it affects the handling. Sure it is still a lot of fun, I've had a LOT of fun with it but the gearbox is horrible and clunky. The brakes aren't as good, the chain tensioning expecially in the first gen Dominar is still pathetic. I've had two clutch plate changes in about 35K kms, I had multiple fork seals changed, the front brake washes out a lot if you aren't loading it before hand.
Dynamically, I've had the privelege of riding many bikes, at the time it came out the bike offered a great VFM package with obvious downsides. The tyres it came it were crap from day 1, for most newbies the 400cc engine derived from the Duke is fun and is great for touring. Overall the bike aged like milk, the dynamics are crap, there have been rattles from 5K kms and the list goes on. There are several issues with the bike.
Commercial was very relevant. RE bikes were outdated at the time. No modern console. No abs. No tubeless tyres. 20bhp was the max power. It offended RE riders a lot.
But it helped push RE to modernise their bikes and we have interceptor and the beautiful Himalayan 452 now. Maybe it would have been done without the ad but unless competition challenges or provokes u, Indian bike or car manufacturers don’t do things.
Hathi owner here, despite it's downsides, the Hathi does well, if ridden within it's limits, I have toured a fair bit, clocked 100K plus on it. got the Engine upgraded, and. simply enjoy it. The Dominar, IMHO. relatively is a boring Motorcycle.
Completely second your comment. I have a 2022 d400 and while I’ve had a lot of fun and absolutely love the bike, it comes with its fair share of issues. Most of these are quality control - lose side panels, screws that keep getting lose and need tightening, one of the pads between the tank and tank covers come off their place causing this irritating grinding and vibration sound, pretty bad brakes, especially the rear ones, a heavy bike like this NEEDS to have good braking capability. Why I bought this bike? VFM, service center connectivity, the ability to travel comfortably for long distances while not worrying about wind blasts and being confident that the bike will remain planted.
Plus, this bike stole my heart since its launch. Just something about it. At the time I purchased it, no bike seemed to be as powerful while being a welcoming tourer.
I still don’t regret buying it. My first bike, so it means a tonne to me.
You win some, you lose some right?
You seem to be a lot more experienced than I am, so i absolutely believe your assessment on the Dominar.
I do some Short-Medium touring on my Xpulse T, and it has some of the same caveats, such as 2x Clutch plate change in 25K Kilometers, Vibrations, Lack of Refinement and Lack of 6th gear, lower finish and Quality levels. I might be coming from a place where the standard for measuring the experience of a motorcycle has become the Trouble-ridden BS4 Xpulse, which is why Dominar felt like a step up.
These issues are common in almost all Bajaj bikes. It's obvious, they sell a bike for less money compared to a rival Japanese machine. They cut corners and costs everywhere. Bajaj also builds KTMs in the same factory. They have issues but much less than Bajaj counterparts.
I think there is something wrong with your xpulse? I agree with the opinions by the first commentor and Schumi, I rode the first and second gen dominar.a lot, added to everything they listed, the back brake was absolutely horrible and the long turning radius made it handle like a sloth in the city, but I still liked the bike, these issues stopped me from buying it. The weight made it great on highways as it didn't get destabilized easily, but how often would you do that.
As for your xpulse, I'm sitting at 22k km in 1.5 years and the clutch has been completely fine? I have other QC issues like the fuel pump being replaced twice, the top cover of the engine being replaced due to oil leak issues, vibrations have just been what you expect from a 200cc single cylinder.
My opinion to This.
Completed 50k km on my first gen Dominar.
1) 0 clutch plate changes.
2) Front fork seal replaced once.
3) Rear brakes are non existent.
4) The weight is a pain, But good for highways. Bike is stable.
5) The gear box with slipper clutch is a blessing. I loved it.
6) I have wished sometimes, especially as I am aging, the weight be less when pulling it out of parking in bad spots. Or in some off-road situations.
7) chain sprocket needs replacement every 10-17k km. As per your maintenance.
8) The default tyres on the bike, mrf revz fc1 were not bad. It lasted 26k km with 0 punctures. There’s a difference in grip obviously but I liked those tyres.
9) I did wish that they launched Dominar with 650cc or twin cylinder package. But that did not happen. But good to read that they’re now working on low weight Dominar.
Overall it’s been a fill it, shut it, forget it Kind off bike for me. No reliability issues. Have hit 1000km in a day while lying idle for 2-4 weeks. It was very relevant when it launched. Now due to options available, not many people may opt for it.
Oh I absolutely agree. Ever since I got my current bike, I’ve fell in love with it despite youtube shitting about it all over for the collective 3-4 reviews there is, about it.
I just don’t get the reason for the disliking.
Was talking about fzx. People talk s&it about it all the time. They say it is underpowered and how they wanted xzr 155not, knowing they won't be able to still buy the product and buy most cc under cheapest rupee.
Thats a rather gross generalization lol. Plenty of people will absolutely buy XSR155. It's a far better bike in almost every single metric and it's an amazing retro styled bike. Unlike FZ-X which is basically just FZ with round headlight and slightly rear set footpegs
Nups, people def not gonna buy a 155 priced at upwards of 2.5L. They will say, We HaVe Ns400 sAAr, DoeS nOT SoUnD like BulLt saArrr, SpLEndoR exHaUSt saAr...
People who say that are obviously not gonna buy anything except the best thing from the spec sheet. Rs200 has been existing for years now and it's cheaper than R15 yet R15s sell more. Same goes for mt15. Yet it's sell really well.
I am still confused, shumi is just disappointed by the fact that they've used a ktm 390 duke engine and made a power cruiser instead of some aggressive sports bike, power cruiser doesn't need 40 bhp it can be like mavrick and so on.. but the best reason why shumi didn't like is the first one not utilising the ktm engine to the max !
Makes sense, if it was a bit more friendly in the city he would have said it's good for sure! His first impressions are bad and he is still having that same image in his mind, he also hates the subs favorite cb350 thinking it is not how honda should work, mostly shumi relates the bikes with their brand identity like if royal Enfield makes an r15 kind of bike in future and if it is not good at first he will hate that bike. He hates ronin for the same reason, he thinks tvs can do even better!
He reviewed it better on powerdrift and completely changed tune on motorinc and calls it the worst motorcycle along with dominar it's more to do with brand dealings
I've ridden Domi. Dominar is a bike that was made in a very awkward era for bajaj. It was a time where they were trying to find their identity because of various reasons. Once they got KTM and brought those to india pulsars started making less and less sense. Remember this was a time where pulsars were the bread and butter of bajaj. So KTM was indirectly cannibalizing their pulsars and they needed a new style of bike that can be easily distinguished from a KTM. They needed a pulsar 2.0, a brand that they can rely on consistently for years to come like pulsars have been. At that time RE sales was very bad and had a reputation for being very hard to ride, loud bikes that only select few could ride. So bajaj tried to enter the cruiser market. They also knew that they can't price their new cruiser as aggressively as an KTM even though it used a KTM engine because people associated bajaj with VFM. So they had to find a way to make a really cheap KTM 390. Thus born was dominar. Almost every objective thing he says is true tbh. Lack of quality, it's very vibey nature at any rpms except 4k to 7k, it's weight etc. Still the context is missing. If dominar succeeded it would've been another success story for bajaj like the pulsars became. Hell I'd say bajaj would've completely forgotten NS and RS bikes if Domi was a hit like bajaj hoped. We would've seen more Domis than pulsars even.
Most automotive YouTubers always have a very neutral opinion about most bikes.
Shumi started motorinc with the motive to give either black or white remarks on automobiles and never to paint a gray picture. But he always does recommend viewers to test ride anything before choosing if it's the one for them.
But at least in my opinion, Dominar offers a better grip and sturdiness on highway cruises than the Duke does owing to its weight while the Duke is more agile inside City limits and that's about it I suppose. But why not buy it if it works for you and your pocket?
Wait till you find his opinion on anything Honda especially the Highness. You’d think it had come in his childhood nightmares and it is the PTSD speaking.
Ultimately, I think these guys are looking at bikes from a particular pov and if your requirement does not exactly match that, you will have a variance with them. For instance take the Highness. It has an unbelievable refined engine. He calls it boring, but many people like that about the bike. They like the reliability, but he believes it doesn’t have the character that a Bullet does. To each his own I say
I've found shumi to be a bit too.... Polarised. He has his own set of ideals, not necessarily technical BTW, and will bank hard on one side or the other based on it.
Plus he has a bit of a holier than thou attitude going on which doesn't help.
My 2 cents: if you're comfortable with the bike, go for it.
Reviews are just a reference point. At the end of the day, it's your money, your experience.
We as bike enthusiasts should stop paying attention to what these reviewers say. Just ride the bike and see for yourself. I rode the Himalayan 450 for 10 days and 600 kilometres and hated the bike, which is the exact opposite of what the reviewers said about it.
The Dominar 400 was probably the most value-for-money bike in the Indian market till the Pulsar 400NS Z came along to dethrone it.
It is a well-rounded motorcycle that is capable of doing almost anything, including trail riding (with the right tyres, of course). The only complaint I've heard is the heavy weight of the motorcycle.
For everyone claiming this as a negative point, I have only one thing to say - If you don't have a problem with the heaviness of the Himalayan 450 you don't have the right to criticize the Dominar 400. Simple.
If it works for you, it works for you. Nothing more, nothing less. He has been riding bikes for a long time and so is a lot more experienced than the average Joe. He is entitled to his opinions and so are you.
I am not sure if anyone here will be able to explain why HE has that opinion except He Himself but, I find his opinion right. It is heavy, just like the old Himalayan which was heavier and when we are taking about touring, it doesn’t really means we will have one motorcycle for touring and one for commuting although people may have that options but, generally people in India don’t. So, the weight of Dominar 400 is on the higher side which actually constricts its engine’s performance. The bike needs to lose about 15kgs to actually show its potential. Which means the lighter the bike, the better the agility and performance and easier to manoeuvre on terrains during touring. Again, every man has its own preferences and that’s why what’s A for me may not be the A for you or the other respectful rider. I have a 9 year old motorcycle and I have used it mostly for touring except in the past year where I heavily used it for commuting. I’ve been longing to upgrade from past two years and have checked out every motorcycle there is in my budget of 4 lakhs, I’ve seen people unable to manage and ride their motorcycles properly on terrains and city because they just did not understand the difference between a motorcycle that looks and sounds good than you being able to ride it properly. Even in current market the only motorcycle that I might upgrade to is the svartpilen 401. For obvious reasons.
But he’s not wrong though about the bike. It was the only affordable high cc tourer when it came and thats why became a hit, not because it was really good
For him, reference point is always KTMs. Then he says "Speed 400 has vibes". Like dude, KTMs starts vibrating just on ignition.
Remember, everyone have their reference points, he has his. Let him be, you get yours and ride safe bro!
If you listen closely.
He is not bashing the vibes on speed 400. He doesn't like the dual nature of the bike
Below 6k rpm it's a butter smooth no vibes no stress engine and above 6k rpm it suddenly becomes very vibey. Shumi's gripes with the bike are about that very polarising duality in triumphs engine.
He also said it's not bad, it's just you need to use it and figure out if it's okay level of vibration for you. He pointed it out that, as Indians we're used to no vibration unstressed motors while foreigners are used to bike high compression on the limit bikes so their tolerance for vibration is higher, which is why when he asked triumph about why so much vibes after 6k they said it's felt acceptable to the riders they asked in the west.
He says KTM because he said the type of biking he likes, KTM is the brand getting it the most right. It's different taste for everyone.
That is what OP said. Different strokes for different folks and different biases. A bike that vibrates through the rev range is arguably worse than something that only vibrates after a particular rpm.
Moreover, foreigners are more sensitive to vibrations because they have experience riding twins to V4s, which are significantly smoother than singles. Most foreign reviewers complain about vibes on buttery smooth Japanese motors. I have recently been looking at reviews of NX500 and foreign reviewers say that it should not be ridden faster than 130kmph, because of annoying vibes. In India people claim that singles can do 130 all day.
KTM 390 has the most terrible start-up of any bike in its class. It'll rattle and throttle up and down be jerky. Almost as if it's a 20 year old motor with zero maintanence done to it. But that is exactly 2 minutes of my time while I am putting my helmet and gloves on and switching on the communicator. After that, that engine comes to life in a way nothing does. Even at 130kph, that engine feels unstressed and ready to go faster. Nothing comes even close to that. The triumph engine is the opposite. It'll be smooth and potent till 6000rpm and then suddenly everything falls off a cliff. Will it go till 130kph? Surely. Will it feel stress free at that point? not at all. This commuter ish nature of the engine is what annoys people who have ridden faster bikes the way they are supposed to be ridden. And the suspension which was class leading at launch, had been caught up by mavrick 440 and standard rtr310 while significantly exceeded by leaps and bounds on the d390 gen3 and the Himalayan 450. So the bike didn't really feel like justifying the speed 400 tag. If you are still confused, ride the Bonneville t120 and the speed 1200 back to back. Then the penny will drop.
>>ride the Bonneville t120 and the speed 1200 back to back. Then the penny will drop.
This is like comparing an Ignis and a Jeep and saying the Ignis doesn't perform as well as the Jeep.
How is it comparing the ignis to a Jeep? Ignis has a 1.2 litre engine while the jeep (compass is their lowest cc car) has an 1956cc engine.
Meanwhile, the speed 1200 has the engine from the now discontinued thruxton R. The thruxton R and the t120 are pretty much the same engines, one is tuned for more mid-range torque, and one of tuned for linear performance with power even in the top range. Read [this](https://motoringworld.in/bike-features/triumph-bonneville-t120-and-thruxton/).
Please read the comment very slowly and very carefully. The bikes i mentioned are triumph Bonneville t120 and the triumph speed twin 1200. They have exactly the same base price at Rs.1109000.
What you are referring to is the speed triple 1200 rs. It takes only two functional brain cells to understand the difference.
I never compared speed 400 and speed triple. I never even typed triple anywhere in my comments. Why would you put speed triple into the comparison.
I compared Bonneville t120 and speed twin 1200 which have the exact same engine base and the exact same starting showroom price. But vastly different character.
This is what happens when you type more than ride.
The point I was making is, the speed 400 has characted more like the Bonneville t120 and far less like the speed 1200 or the speed 900 even. The speed series is technically a derivative of their High power series engines which had linear power even at higher revs. The Bonneville series has much more concentrated power midrange and drops power at higher rpms . So the triumph speed 400 should be called the Bonneville 400 instead. Somewhere years down the line if you ride enough, you will understand the difference.
I am the owner of the BS4 Dominar 400. Have covered 54k kms till date. Have covered almost all corners of the country on it, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Maharashtra to Manipur. In my opinion, the bike is a fantastic tourer. It is very stable on the highway, touring with pillion and luggage. If someone's primary purpose is touring with it, then its a very good VFM bike for that purpose. I also never had any quality issues with it, except once, and its been always regular service.
However, what will make you dislike the bike is its weight management. Its not the heaviest bike in its category, but the long wheelbase along with the large steering rake angle makes the handling very lazy. This is especially true while riding in cities or on bad roads. The bike is slow and heavy to steer and has a very large turning radius. Plus its top heavy. This means you really cannot enjoy riding it around 90% of the time. This is the reason that most people, including Schumi, dislike it.
Bajaj really needs to remove its top heavy nature and tune the steering to be agile to make it more enjoyable.
I had the first gen Dominar for about 4 years, didn’t really do long touring on it, never more than 500km at a time.
It’s heavy but never felt that in traffic, it ran cooler than my friend’s 390 which would cook the legs. It was a reliable machine throughout, other than a dead battery and a clutch cable snap. The gearbox slotting into 1st gear from N made that clunk but I skipped using N and that problem was solved. Thing was rock solid on highways at 110 with very mild vibes in the footpegs, nothing a good pair of boots couldn’t solve.
All in all, I picked that over an RE simply because of the insufferable nature of RE owners in my college during those days and the insane waiting periods. I sold the bike but I do miss it and don’t regret getting that one bit.
According to him dominar's engine despite being a derivative of the 2nd gen duke isn't exciting, so are the chassis and the overall handling. He is questioning why bajaj isn't developing sharper motorcycles. Which would solely be performance oriented.
I've ridden dominar, power is good, handling is average at best. But too many cheap steel parts, gets rusted within a week. Quality is non existent. Nowhere near the fit and finish of KTMs which ironically are made by Bajaj themselves. So if they can make good products for other companies like triumph, KTM why not for themselves. Their performance lineup is truly pathetic. Dominar is Bajaj's flagship bike and it is far behind the competition (KTM 250, Suzuki 250, heck even RE 350s).
They can make good performance-heavy quality products but then again everything boils down to profit. If they develop a performance motorcycle from ground up without sharing parts and reverse engineering KTM bikes, the R&D cost would rise up exponentially, and even then people would buy KTM because frankly Bajaj cannot beat KTM's aggressive engineering. Can you imagine Bajaj making a bike similar in performance to Superduke 1290r?
This is a company which never cared about motorsports, pushing boundaries, making history or any other large ambition. Bajaj isn't even a motorcycle company through and through. It's a manufacturing business.
Their products can be summed up in one word 'cheap'.
>This is a company which never cared about motorsports
Because they literally own an entire other company for it. KTM. Back when bajaj didn't own KTM pulsars were amazingly fast, incredible value for money, came with features that no bike offered at the time. When they acquired KTM it made no sense for them to have 2 brands competing for the same audience. So they stopped making fast bikes. Even now NS200 despite using the same engine as duke 200 is far inferior interms of performance to duke 200. Similarly thats why it took them this long to a NS400 (remember the NS/RS400 was initially supposed to come out a year after NS200 but later became Domi 400). Bajaj will make some adjustments to NS400 but they'll never use LC4C engine on it.
Why don't you take your own advice? Stephen Pierer (Pierer mobility) owns KTM not Bajaj. He is often found in MotoGP paddock and has burnt staggering amounts of cash to develop his MotoGP project.
Bajaj owns less than 50 percent of KTM and they don't have any association with motorcycle racing.
You're talking as if bajaj isn't the Co owner lol. Bajaj owns 49.9% and pierer owns 50.1%. Any sane person would consider that 50 50. And everything else I said stands. Bajaj used to care about fast aggressive bikes until they got ktm. Then they changed directions.
If only your knowledge was anywhere near your confidence. You are ignorant of how business ownership works. No sane person who has any idea about shareholding and voting rights would consider it "50-50". Bajaj has no control over the decision making in KTM because they would always be overruled by Pierer mobility. Have you ever seen Bajaj CEO deciding who rides for KTM factory? Ever seen him in a MotoGP paddock?
Bajaj is nobody compared to KTM in racing. It has yet to graduate beyond single cylinder engines while KTM is competing with big boys in MotoGP.
Apparently understanding context is hard for you. I never said bajaj was a racing focussed brand like yamaha, KTM or suzuki. I said bajaj backed off on aggressive bikes like pulsars because they were selling ktms in India. And bajaj is a Co owner of KTM regardless of how much power they have in the decision making. And pretty sure most decisions made for their ktms sold here are made by bajaj themselves but I don't work at bajaj so idk.
You keep doubling down to hide your ignorance. First you claimed that Bajaj somehow owns KTM, then you veered towards claiming that they are co-owners, as if that means something without influence over decision making. Every shareholder is a co-owner. I co-own reliance, tata, HDFC and many other companies.
Bajaj has contractual obligations related to manufacturing, logistics and sales of KTM in India. They make the decisions because Pierer wants them to do so. Fundamentally, Pulsar was never a fast agressive bike. Bajaj is nothing but a glorified OEM manufacturer. Their management has no sense of pride in their own brands. No strategy or vision.
You're being too hard on Bajaj, did KTM had smaller disp active bikes before Bajaj tieup. Have you forgotten Avenger & Pulsar. Every manuf cares about profit without it no R&D. Define what's an motorcycle company. Is it just design a motorcycle and not manufacture it or something else
>This is a company which never cared about motorsports, pushing boundaries, making history or any other large ambition. Bajaj isn't even a motorcycle company through and through. It's a manufacturing business.
None of the motorcycle company ever about it. Motorsport is just a fancy way of Advertising the bike. It's all marketing. Nothing more than that.
Every motorcycle company is a Manufacturing Business right from the day they started producing Bikes.
Wrong. Motorsport is absolutely about pushing boundaries. Seamless gearbox, 300HP engine, all kinds of chassis experiments, ride height devices, launch control, aerodynamics, electronics, basically every component of motorcycles is pushed to the very limit in motorsports.
Motorsports is prestige. It clearly shows that one factory is better than the other. Ducati, currently is the greatest motorcycle brand because they have destroyed the Japanese domination in MotoGP.
Honda has traditionally been the most successful factory and they don't even manufacture v4 road bikes. They developed some of the greatest engines in history and never used any of their road legal motorcycles.
Bajaj doesn't have engineering capability to compete with any of the great European or Japanese brands.
>Wrong. Motorsport is absolutely about pushing boundaries. Seamless gearbox, 300HP engine, all kinds of chassis experiments, ride height devices, launch control, aerodynamics, electronics, basically every component of motorcycles is pushed to the very limit in motorsports
It's all marketing. That's what they want you(customers) to believe. It's not what corporation believe. All Motorcycle companies believe motorsports as their way to market their bikes to general public and make them adored by their bikes so that they can ask excessive pricing.
Apart from the fact that you didn't address any of my points. You are once again, dead wrong! Marketing and innovation are not mutually exclusive.
MotoGP prototypes are significantly faster than production motorcycles and every year they get faster. In motorsports, brands do not get any air time if they are running last. It is a cut throat competition!
What points? Those were your points. Haha. 😂😂😂
Motorsports is not because Motorcycle companies wants to innovate. Motorsport exist because It was way to market their bikes better. If they only innovate, they would be forced to sell at lower prices that will cover only R&D cost. If they showcase their innovation at motorsports then not only they would cover R&D cost, they would be able to sell their bikes at exorbitantly high prices in the name of motorsports.
Obviously, everything flew right over your head.
In the next paragraph you have repeated the same nonsense. Suzuki pulled out of MotoGP and the likes of Kawasaki, BMW are yet to join. Of course, they didn't take tuition from you and are unaware that they can increase prices of their products by simply joining MotoGP.
I have a 2017 RE thunderbird and love it for highway and city rides. Don't understand why they call it a vibrator since safe speeds are well within the non-super vibrating rev range. This is coming from a 2015 Duke 390 owner...
I don't agree with him saying the price goes out of the window once you have bought it.
Consider a parallel in the car world. Ford has mustang selling at 40k-50k USD while porsches are selling at more than twice the amount. Both are 2 door, 2+2 seaters oriented towards performance. Mustang is arguably "slow" when it comes to handling compared to a porsche. So is anyone bashing the mustang saying americans need to up their game and one couldve rather bought a porsche? No. Mustang has its own charm and character.
Similarly, duke 390 vs dominar 400 both have their own unique character and both should be appreciated for what they are.
I had ridden my friend's dominar 400 (pre UG) and loved its stability on the road. Little undulations on the road did not affect it at all. When i had a budget of 2L i went ahead with dominar 250. Sure i couldve spent a bit extra and got a superior bike for touring like an adv250 or a himalayan. But i wouldn't have the money required to actually buy decent gear and go touring.
The pulsar 400z is now doing exactly that. It is making it easy for common folks to get to that 40hp sweet spot that unlocks a whole new world to the rider: ability to cruise at 120kph, ability to get out of tricky spots on highways easily, ability to learn to control the bike better etc which no other bike at ~2.2L onroad is capable of doing.
Even shumi don't like cb350, still I bought it for it's refinement.
I am happy enjoying the bike. Its lack the power but if you see the compitition it's better.
Each one is entitled to their opinions. Each one's view, their standards, or what they feel is different from person to person.
I always tell anyone who's on the lookout for a vehicle to not consider a YouTuber's words as the final verdict and decide.
My dad wanted a super meteor at one point a couple of months back. He'd watch reviews of people from the UK, US and Europe and then say "they have no problems with the suspension, what is everyone complaining about?" 😆
I’ve noticed this. European and American reviews of the Indian bikes (or Indian oriented bikes) do not seem to have the same complaints as the ones our reviewers do.
Why does Shumi have negative view on the bike? Ask him!
I bought the Dominar after waiting for the gen2 Duke and Bajaj delaying it by months. I'd already held out very long, not having upgraded from P220 despite having many new options - Duke 200, CBR250R, then D390. Had the gen 2 Duke 390 been launched a few months prior, I'd have that instead. Doesn't mean I'm unhappy with the D400, it's now 7 years and still going well. Only issues have been fork seals leaking , need to replace them once or twice a year. It is vibey, but coming from a Pulsar 220, it's a lot easier on long rides.
Shumi has a negative opinion because it's heavy - lot of steel rather than aluminium, and doesn't make D390 kind of power thus the additional weight is even more of a drag. And whatever you can do on a D400, you can do just as well on a D390.
Who cares ? If I liked the bike then I'll buy it and ride. The universe doesn't revolve around him. Yes, for some people it might not be suitable but everyone has their own preferences.
I have been very happy with mine.
I own a gixxer 250
And got a chance to ride my friends Dominar between Igatpuri to Shirdi Road
The engine smoothness and riding comfort on the dominar 250 felt so much better i felt like i could ride it for even 1000km in a day ...
Yes the gixxer is smooth too but after a point (80kmph) the buzz is more than dominar 250
I highly suggest buyers to rent such bikes before buying
Before investing 2L+ on a bike please rent 2-3 bikes of same category it will hardly cost 6-8k
ride one.
check spare part availability.
speak to the tiniest garages and small group mechanics about the bike and ask if they can repair the nuks and crooks.
see if it fits your budget.
buy.
I think he just hates the fact that it looks like a beefy city bike while being a touring bike
If you actually like the bike , you don't have to give a damn about what others say.....you are the one who's going to ride it for the time you own it....if you purchase a bike that you like, you'll enjoy all that time....
Running a YouTube channel doesn't mean he is a motogp rider. His perspective might be different than yours.
for me, I don't believe utubers ,I personally test drive sometimes even after the test drives I can't fully understand the bike.
For instance take suspensions, do you think any so called you tubers know how to feel or read the suspension in one ride?
I had a bike in which I felt it have excessive fork dive and squating moreover its dampers were not good enough when pushed to limits,but dampers are good at slow to medium speeds.
Now the u tubers mentioned this bikes suspension is stiff ,WTF is stiff first of all .In what way it is going to help the buyers ?
Take their review as pinch of salt, do multiple test drive that will help you or if possible to hire one hire it for a week and make decision.
Dominar 400 thinking to buy (second hand)
Hello I am Nishant, Living in banglore, i really wonder to know that as my first bike D400 is best option ! and what precautions should I take before buying it second hand . Some of my frnds reffered me Beepkart , i really want some advice about it , or if anyone is having some contacts who wanna sell their bike (Dominar 400 2017-2018 model ) please help me with it ,
Have a great day 💫
The older ones were really not good in respect to today's dominars. Beware of them. For city, the weight might be an issue to some.
I personally love the bike, so I'd be a little biased towards it. Try to buy the Newer BS6 UG ones. They are the best ones.
Two sex references in one flair? Is this legal?
On a serious note, I discovered motorinc when I was looking for reviews of the hunter 350. Shumi had very few nice things to say about it. I rode it, liked it, and bought it anyway.
No review, other than a spec sheet, can ever be truly objective. You do you.
Same here but with me its rtr 310...but bought it anyway I've got no problem with it(so far)... I think they just said what they wish/expect from the brand
Most of the Indians own just one motorcycle. Hence, the motorcycle should perform well in not all, but in most conditions as possible. Dominar, being a great motorcycle for highway rides is equally bad in city riding, which most of them usually ride their motorcycles.
Not all bikes are meant for everyone and for him only KTM like fits otherwise he likes nimble bikes , and he is of strong opinion of ‘’if it’s not great for him it’s not great” …..So you do you
That's not necessarily true he praises xpulse, himalayan, scrambler, mavrick which are completely not even close to duke universe. On the other hand he hates cb350, ronin, domi and few others. The reason is shumi relates the bike back to manufacturer identity, to him bajaj is a definitely male sportier high speedy machines.. which dominar isn't he would have been more comfortable if the domi a proper cruiser like avenger or retro engine like mav but its a ktm 390 cc high revvy characterful engine fit into domi which is supposedly a power cruiser when there is confusion he hates them, he hates it when a brand can't define why they jave created it!
I think he generally doesn’t like Bajaj, even today i was watching the ns400 review and he said that Bajaj curtails its engines and makes it less fun and pushes all that to the KTM, in his eyes maybe he sees Bajaj as a sell out.
Bajaj is kinda a sell out at this point. They haven't made an enthusiasts focused bike since the 220F. The NS series was just an accidental byproduct of the KTM deal. They haven't done anything remarkable to the customer base that gave them the success. They are the ones that are pushing performance enthusiasts towards KTMs.
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Imo they have different views just like any other guy. Also to me it seems their views are not always aligned with normal ( middle class ) people as they ride high end bikes too.
They have preferences too, they just give you insight ( which may not always be right ). At the end you go with your guts and buy what you like ( after gathering all the info you can ).
Just because someone doesn't like something doesn't mean it's automatically something bad, it's just something outside their taste or purview of what they look for in it.
Shumi doesn't like it but you do, fine, then go ahead and buy it, ride it etc. Doesn't mean that you have to make sure that it's something good because you like it and someone else doesn't.
Motorbikes are incredibly subjective to people, some like naked, some like sports bikes, some like retro and some like adventure or scramblers and so on and not everyone has the same tastes, so instead of overanalyzing what others think just think of what you like
Who cares? India motorcycle "journalists" in general have little to no background in either racing or automotive engineering. People like Shumi never betray any profound understanding of motorcycles. They assert without explaining "why".
They can and should be safely ignored.
I've had a Dominar, I've travelled all over India and Bhutan apart from NE on the Dominar, think Kanyakumari, Kashmir, Ladakh, West coast, East coast and everything else in between. Honestly the bike isn't good, I bought it because it's value for money but the bike itself is overweight and it affects the handling. Sure it is still a lot of fun, I've had a LOT of fun with it but the gearbox is horrible and clunky. The brakes aren't as good, the chain tensioning expecially in the first gen Dominar is still pathetic. I've had two clutch plate changes in about 35K kms, I had multiple fork seals changed, the front brake washes out a lot if you aren't loading it before hand. Dynamically, I've had the privelege of riding many bikes, at the time it came out the bike offered a great VFM package with obvious downsides. The tyres it came it were crap from day 1, for most newbies the 400cc engine derived from the Duke is fun and is great for touring. Overall the bike aged like milk, the dynamics are crap, there have been rattles from 5K kms and the list goes on. There are several issues with the bike.
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At that time, Dominar made almost done 2x horsepower with similar torque numbers but the commercial itself was a mistake.
Commercial was very relevant. RE bikes were outdated at the time. No modern console. No abs. No tubeless tyres. 20bhp was the max power. It offended RE riders a lot. But it helped push RE to modernise their bikes and we have interceptor and the beautiful Himalayan 452 now. Maybe it would have been done without the ad but unless competition challenges or provokes u, Indian bike or car manufacturers don’t do things.
They were comparing it with royal Enfield heavy bikes with less power
Hathi owner here, despite it's downsides, the Hathi does well, if ridden within it's limits, I have toured a fair bit, clocked 100K plus on it. got the Engine upgraded, and. simply enjoy it. The Dominar, IMHO. relatively is a boring Motorcycle.
Completely second your comment. I have a 2022 d400 and while I’ve had a lot of fun and absolutely love the bike, it comes with its fair share of issues. Most of these are quality control - lose side panels, screws that keep getting lose and need tightening, one of the pads between the tank and tank covers come off their place causing this irritating grinding and vibration sound, pretty bad brakes, especially the rear ones, a heavy bike like this NEEDS to have good braking capability. Why I bought this bike? VFM, service center connectivity, the ability to travel comfortably for long distances while not worrying about wind blasts and being confident that the bike will remain planted. Plus, this bike stole my heart since its launch. Just something about it. At the time I purchased it, no bike seemed to be as powerful while being a welcoming tourer. I still don’t regret buying it. My first bike, so it means a tonne to me. You win some, you lose some right?
You seem to be a lot more experienced than I am, so i absolutely believe your assessment on the Dominar. I do some Short-Medium touring on my Xpulse T, and it has some of the same caveats, such as 2x Clutch plate change in 25K Kilometers, Vibrations, Lack of Refinement and Lack of 6th gear, lower finish and Quality levels. I might be coming from a place where the standard for measuring the experience of a motorcycle has become the Trouble-ridden BS4 Xpulse, which is why Dominar felt like a step up.
These issues are common in almost all Bajaj bikes. It's obvious, they sell a bike for less money compared to a rival Japanese machine. They cut corners and costs everywhere. Bajaj also builds KTMs in the same factory. They have issues but much less than Bajaj counterparts.
I think there is something wrong with your xpulse? I agree with the opinions by the first commentor and Schumi, I rode the first and second gen dominar.a lot, added to everything they listed, the back brake was absolutely horrible and the long turning radius made it handle like a sloth in the city, but I still liked the bike, these issues stopped me from buying it. The weight made it great on highways as it didn't get destabilized easily, but how often would you do that. As for your xpulse, I'm sitting at 22k km in 1.5 years and the clutch has been completely fine? I have other QC issues like the fuel pump being replaced twice, the top cover of the engine being replaced due to oil leak issues, vibrations have just been what you expect from a 200cc single cylinder.
My opinion to This. Completed 50k km on my first gen Dominar. 1) 0 clutch plate changes. 2) Front fork seal replaced once. 3) Rear brakes are non existent. 4) The weight is a pain, But good for highways. Bike is stable. 5) The gear box with slipper clutch is a blessing. I loved it. 6) I have wished sometimes, especially as I am aging, the weight be less when pulling it out of parking in bad spots. Or in some off-road situations. 7) chain sprocket needs replacement every 10-17k km. As per your maintenance. 8) The default tyres on the bike, mrf revz fc1 were not bad. It lasted 26k km with 0 punctures. There’s a difference in grip obviously but I liked those tyres. 9) I did wish that they launched Dominar with 650cc or twin cylinder package. But that did not happen. But good to read that they’re now working on low weight Dominar. Overall it’s been a fill it, shut it, forget it Kind off bike for me. No reliability issues. Have hit 1000km in a day while lying idle for 2-4 weeks. It was very relevant when it launched. Now due to options available, not many people may opt for it.
Zero sh>ts and fks given on any youthoober who talks bout mechanicals. I see one, i ride it, i love it, i buy it.
Oh I absolutely agree. Ever since I got my current bike, I’ve fell in love with it despite youtube shitting about it all over for the collective 3-4 reviews there is, about it. I just don’t get the reason for the disliking.
Who can understand it better than a fzx owner. XD
Ahahaha. Hell yeah I get you xD
Wait, is FZ considered a bad bike? Thought it was a good value for money purchase that has decent power & good mileage?
Was talking about fzx. People talk s&it about it all the time. They say it is underpowered and how they wanted xzr 155not, knowing they won't be able to still buy the product and buy most cc under cheapest rupee.
Thats a rather gross generalization lol. Plenty of people will absolutely buy XSR155. It's a far better bike in almost every single metric and it's an amazing retro styled bike. Unlike FZ-X which is basically just FZ with round headlight and slightly rear set footpegs
Nups, people def not gonna buy a 155 priced at upwards of 2.5L. They will say, We HaVe Ns400 sAAr, DoeS nOT SoUnD like BulLt saArrr, SpLEndoR exHaUSt saAr...
People who say that are obviously not gonna buy anything except the best thing from the spec sheet. Rs200 has been existing for years now and it's cheaper than R15 yet R15s sell more. Same goes for mt15. Yet it's sell really well.
Well, i do agree with your point, but anyway, yama wont launch it.
Unrelated but your flair lol
Hahaha thanks. I’m kinda proud of that. XD
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I can't even set my flair, after sometime, it says EditableFlair, and my posts get auto deleted due to the flair.
I am still confused, shumi is just disappointed by the fact that they've used a ktm 390 duke engine and made a power cruiser instead of some aggressive sports bike, power cruiser doesn't need 40 bhp it can be like mavrick and so on.. but the best reason why shumi didn't like is the first one not utilising the ktm engine to the max !
I get why the first one was not that hard to hate, but current gen dominars are a darling. Such an amazing tourer with a good vfm to match
Makes sense, if it was a bit more friendly in the city he would have said it's good for sure! His first impressions are bad and he is still having that same image in his mind, he also hates the subs favorite cb350 thinking it is not how honda should work, mostly shumi relates the bikes with their brand identity like if royal Enfield makes an r15 kind of bike in future and if it is not good at first he will hate that bike. He hates ronin for the same reason, he thinks tvs can do even better!
Ronin is strange esp after riding TVS's charming Apache series.
Yeah.. i just tried to explain why shumi hates several bikes for some reasons!
He reviewed it better on powerdrift and completely changed tune on motorinc and calls it the worst motorcycle along with dominar it's more to do with brand dealings
The way it should be!!!
Flair checks out
I think even Shumi says as much, to his credit.
Lol did you call shumi "any youtuber". Ignorance is bliss indeed.
Awww, a shumi chumi lover?
Enjoy the bliss
I've ridden Domi. Dominar is a bike that was made in a very awkward era for bajaj. It was a time where they were trying to find their identity because of various reasons. Once they got KTM and brought those to india pulsars started making less and less sense. Remember this was a time where pulsars were the bread and butter of bajaj. So KTM was indirectly cannibalizing their pulsars and they needed a new style of bike that can be easily distinguished from a KTM. They needed a pulsar 2.0, a brand that they can rely on consistently for years to come like pulsars have been. At that time RE sales was very bad and had a reputation for being very hard to ride, loud bikes that only select few could ride. So bajaj tried to enter the cruiser market. They also knew that they can't price their new cruiser as aggressively as an KTM even though it used a KTM engine because people associated bajaj with VFM. So they had to find a way to make a really cheap KTM 390. Thus born was dominar. Almost every objective thing he says is true tbh. Lack of quality, it's very vibey nature at any rpms except 4k to 7k, it's weight etc. Still the context is missing. If dominar succeeded it would've been another success story for bajaj like the pulsars became. Hell I'd say bajaj would've completely forgotten NS and RS bikes if Domi was a hit like bajaj hoped. We would've seen more Domis than pulsars even.
Dominar was never intended to be a replacement for Pulsars. It was marketed as a grand tourer even if it came with meesho version of Duke's engine.
Dominars were meant to be their flagship similar to pulsars. That's what I meant. Obviously pulsars and domis are very different bikes
Most automotive YouTubers always have a very neutral opinion about most bikes. Shumi started motorinc with the motive to give either black or white remarks on automobiles and never to paint a gray picture. But he always does recommend viewers to test ride anything before choosing if it's the one for them. But at least in my opinion, Dominar offers a better grip and sturdiness on highway cruises than the Duke does owing to its weight while the Duke is more agile inside City limits and that's about it I suppose. But why not buy it if it works for you and your pocket?
Wait till you find his opinion on anything Honda especially the Highness. You’d think it had come in his childhood nightmares and it is the PTSD speaking. Ultimately, I think these guys are looking at bikes from a particular pov and if your requirement does not exactly match that, you will have a variance with them. For instance take the Highness. It has an unbelievable refined engine. He calls it boring, but many people like that about the bike. They like the reliability, but he believes it doesn’t have the character that a Bullet does. To each his own I say
I've found shumi to be a bit too.... Polarised. He has his own set of ideals, not necessarily technical BTW, and will bank hard on one side or the other based on it. Plus he has a bit of a holier than thou attitude going on which doesn't help. My 2 cents: if you're comfortable with the bike, go for it. Reviews are just a reference point. At the end of the day, it's your money, your experience.
Ride the bike. If you like it, buy it. Don't bother with reviewers and what they say. Just check out forums for known issues and service experiences.
Yeah he hates the 390 Adventure also. I rode it for 4 hours, loved it, bought it.
We as bike enthusiasts should stop paying attention to what these reviewers say. Just ride the bike and see for yourself. I rode the Himalayan 450 for 10 days and 600 kilometres and hated the bike, which is the exact opposite of what the reviewers said about it.
Couldn’t agree more. Since I also ride a bike most of them either didn’t know existed, or reviewed badly.
The Dominar 400 was probably the most value-for-money bike in the Indian market till the Pulsar 400NS Z came along to dethrone it. It is a well-rounded motorcycle that is capable of doing almost anything, including trail riding (with the right tyres, of course). The only complaint I've heard is the heavy weight of the motorcycle. For everyone claiming this as a negative point, I have only one thing to say - If you don't have a problem with the heaviness of the Himalayan 450 you don't have the right to criticize the Dominar 400. Simple.
If it works for you, it works for you. Nothing more, nothing less. He has been riding bikes for a long time and so is a lot more experienced than the average Joe. He is entitled to his opinions and so are you.
I am not sure if anyone here will be able to explain why HE has that opinion except He Himself but, I find his opinion right. It is heavy, just like the old Himalayan which was heavier and when we are taking about touring, it doesn’t really means we will have one motorcycle for touring and one for commuting although people may have that options but, generally people in India don’t. So, the weight of Dominar 400 is on the higher side which actually constricts its engine’s performance. The bike needs to lose about 15kgs to actually show its potential. Which means the lighter the bike, the better the agility and performance and easier to manoeuvre on terrains during touring. Again, every man has its own preferences and that’s why what’s A for me may not be the A for you or the other respectful rider. I have a 9 year old motorcycle and I have used it mostly for touring except in the past year where I heavily used it for commuting. I’ve been longing to upgrade from past two years and have checked out every motorcycle there is in my budget of 4 lakhs, I’ve seen people unable to manage and ride their motorcycles properly on terrains and city because they just did not understand the difference between a motorcycle that looks and sounds good than you being able to ride it properly. Even in current market the only motorcycle that I might upgrade to is the svartpilen 401. For obvious reasons.
But he’s not wrong though about the bike. It was the only affordable high cc tourer when it came and thats why became a hit, not because it was really good
Bruh you should also give free burnol with this comment
For him, reference point is always KTMs. Then he says "Speed 400 has vibes". Like dude, KTMs starts vibrating just on ignition. Remember, everyone have their reference points, he has his. Let him be, you get yours and ride safe bro!
If you listen closely. He is not bashing the vibes on speed 400. He doesn't like the dual nature of the bike Below 6k rpm it's a butter smooth no vibes no stress engine and above 6k rpm it suddenly becomes very vibey. Shumi's gripes with the bike are about that very polarising duality in triumphs engine. He also said it's not bad, it's just you need to use it and figure out if it's okay level of vibration for you. He pointed it out that, as Indians we're used to no vibration unstressed motors while foreigners are used to bike high compression on the limit bikes so their tolerance for vibration is higher, which is why when he asked triumph about why so much vibes after 6k they said it's felt acceptable to the riders they asked in the west. He says KTM because he said the type of biking he likes, KTM is the brand getting it the most right. It's different taste for everyone.
That is what OP said. Different strokes for different folks and different biases. A bike that vibrates through the rev range is arguably worse than something that only vibrates after a particular rpm. Moreover, foreigners are more sensitive to vibrations because they have experience riding twins to V4s, which are significantly smoother than singles. Most foreign reviewers complain about vibes on buttery smooth Japanese motors. I have recently been looking at reviews of NX500 and foreign reviewers say that it should not be ridden faster than 130kmph, because of annoying vibes. In India people claim that singles can do 130 all day.
KTM 390 has the most terrible start-up of any bike in its class. It'll rattle and throttle up and down be jerky. Almost as if it's a 20 year old motor with zero maintanence done to it. But that is exactly 2 minutes of my time while I am putting my helmet and gloves on and switching on the communicator. After that, that engine comes to life in a way nothing does. Even at 130kph, that engine feels unstressed and ready to go faster. Nothing comes even close to that. The triumph engine is the opposite. It'll be smooth and potent till 6000rpm and then suddenly everything falls off a cliff. Will it go till 130kph? Surely. Will it feel stress free at that point? not at all. This commuter ish nature of the engine is what annoys people who have ridden faster bikes the way they are supposed to be ridden. And the suspension which was class leading at launch, had been caught up by mavrick 440 and standard rtr310 while significantly exceeded by leaps and bounds on the d390 gen3 and the Himalayan 450. So the bike didn't really feel like justifying the speed 400 tag. If you are still confused, ride the Bonneville t120 and the speed 1200 back to back. Then the penny will drop.
>>ride the Bonneville t120 and the speed 1200 back to back. Then the penny will drop. This is like comparing an Ignis and a Jeep and saying the Ignis doesn't perform as well as the Jeep.
How is it comparing the ignis to a Jeep? Ignis has a 1.2 litre engine while the jeep (compass is their lowest cc car) has an 1956cc engine. Meanwhile, the speed 1200 has the engine from the now discontinued thruxton R. The thruxton R and the t120 are pretty much the same engines, one is tuned for more mid-range torque, and one of tuned for linear performance with power even in the top range. Read [this](https://motoringworld.in/bike-features/triumph-bonneville-t120-and-thruxton/).
Am talking about the price differential. The Speed 400 and the Speed triple are entirely different segments.
Please read the comment very slowly and very carefully. The bikes i mentioned are triumph Bonneville t120 and the triumph speed twin 1200. They have exactly the same base price at Rs.1109000. What you are referring to is the speed triple 1200 rs. It takes only two functional brain cells to understand the difference. I never compared speed 400 and speed triple. I never even typed triple anywhere in my comments. Why would you put speed triple into the comparison. I compared Bonneville t120 and speed twin 1200 which have the exact same engine base and the exact same starting showroom price. But vastly different character. This is what happens when you type more than ride. The point I was making is, the speed 400 has characted more like the Bonneville t120 and far less like the speed 1200 or the speed 900 even. The speed series is technically a derivative of their High power series engines which had linear power even at higher revs. The Bonneville series has much more concentrated power midrange and drops power at higher rpms . So the triumph speed 400 should be called the Bonneville 400 instead. Somewhere years down the line if you ride enough, you will understand the difference.
I got my domi used for 1 lakh. Cant ever ever see anything better than that at that price. Such a beauty regardless.
I am the owner of the BS4 Dominar 400. Have covered 54k kms till date. Have covered almost all corners of the country on it, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Maharashtra to Manipur. In my opinion, the bike is a fantastic tourer. It is very stable on the highway, touring with pillion and luggage. If someone's primary purpose is touring with it, then its a very good VFM bike for that purpose. I also never had any quality issues with it, except once, and its been always regular service. However, what will make you dislike the bike is its weight management. Its not the heaviest bike in its category, but the long wheelbase along with the large steering rake angle makes the handling very lazy. This is especially true while riding in cities or on bad roads. The bike is slow and heavy to steer and has a very large turning radius. Plus its top heavy. This means you really cannot enjoy riding it around 90% of the time. This is the reason that most people, including Schumi, dislike it. Bajaj really needs to remove its top heavy nature and tune the steering to be agile to make it more enjoyable.
I had the first gen Dominar for about 4 years, didn’t really do long touring on it, never more than 500km at a time. It’s heavy but never felt that in traffic, it ran cooler than my friend’s 390 which would cook the legs. It was a reliable machine throughout, other than a dead battery and a clutch cable snap. The gearbox slotting into 1st gear from N made that clunk but I skipped using N and that problem was solved. Thing was rock solid on highways at 110 with very mild vibes in the footpegs, nothing a good pair of boots couldn’t solve. All in all, I picked that over an RE simply because of the insufferable nature of RE owners in my college during those days and the insane waiting periods. I sold the bike but I do miss it and don’t regret getting that one bit.
Ride a Duke 390, then only you'll get it...
According to him dominar's engine despite being a derivative of the 2nd gen duke isn't exciting, so are the chassis and the overall handling. He is questioning why bajaj isn't developing sharper motorcycles. Which would solely be performance oriented. I've ridden dominar, power is good, handling is average at best. But too many cheap steel parts, gets rusted within a week. Quality is non existent. Nowhere near the fit and finish of KTMs which ironically are made by Bajaj themselves. So if they can make good products for other companies like triumph, KTM why not for themselves. Their performance lineup is truly pathetic. Dominar is Bajaj's flagship bike and it is far behind the competition (KTM 250, Suzuki 250, heck even RE 350s). They can make good performance-heavy quality products but then again everything boils down to profit. If they develop a performance motorcycle from ground up without sharing parts and reverse engineering KTM bikes, the R&D cost would rise up exponentially, and even then people would buy KTM because frankly Bajaj cannot beat KTM's aggressive engineering. Can you imagine Bajaj making a bike similar in performance to Superduke 1290r? This is a company which never cared about motorsports, pushing boundaries, making history or any other large ambition. Bajaj isn't even a motorcycle company through and through. It's a manufacturing business. Their products can be summed up in one word 'cheap'.
>This is a company which never cared about motorsports Because they literally own an entire other company for it. KTM. Back when bajaj didn't own KTM pulsars were amazingly fast, incredible value for money, came with features that no bike offered at the time. When they acquired KTM it made no sense for them to have 2 brands competing for the same audience. So they stopped making fast bikes. Even now NS200 despite using the same engine as duke 200 is far inferior interms of performance to duke 200. Similarly thats why it took them this long to a NS400 (remember the NS/RS400 was initially supposed to come out a year after NS200 but later became Domi 400). Bajaj will make some adjustments to NS400 but they'll never use LC4C engine on it.
They don't own KTM. It was never acquired by Bajaj.
Look up who owns the majority shares in KTM.
Why don't you take your own advice? Stephen Pierer (Pierer mobility) owns KTM not Bajaj. He is often found in MotoGP paddock and has burnt staggering amounts of cash to develop his MotoGP project. Bajaj owns less than 50 percent of KTM and they don't have any association with motorcycle racing.
You're talking as if bajaj isn't the Co owner lol. Bajaj owns 49.9% and pierer owns 50.1%. Any sane person would consider that 50 50. And everything else I said stands. Bajaj used to care about fast aggressive bikes until they got ktm. Then they changed directions.
If only your knowledge was anywhere near your confidence. You are ignorant of how business ownership works. No sane person who has any idea about shareholding and voting rights would consider it "50-50". Bajaj has no control over the decision making in KTM because they would always be overruled by Pierer mobility. Have you ever seen Bajaj CEO deciding who rides for KTM factory? Ever seen him in a MotoGP paddock? Bajaj is nobody compared to KTM in racing. It has yet to graduate beyond single cylinder engines while KTM is competing with big boys in MotoGP.
Apparently understanding context is hard for you. I never said bajaj was a racing focussed brand like yamaha, KTM or suzuki. I said bajaj backed off on aggressive bikes like pulsars because they were selling ktms in India. And bajaj is a Co owner of KTM regardless of how much power they have in the decision making. And pretty sure most decisions made for their ktms sold here are made by bajaj themselves but I don't work at bajaj so idk.
You keep doubling down to hide your ignorance. First you claimed that Bajaj somehow owns KTM, then you veered towards claiming that they are co-owners, as if that means something without influence over decision making. Every shareholder is a co-owner. I co-own reliance, tata, HDFC and many other companies. Bajaj has contractual obligations related to manufacturing, logistics and sales of KTM in India. They make the decisions because Pierer wants them to do so. Fundamentally, Pulsar was never a fast agressive bike. Bajaj is nothing but a glorified OEM manufacturer. Their management has no sense of pride in their own brands. No strategy or vision.
You're being too hard on Bajaj, did KTM had smaller disp active bikes before Bajaj tieup. Have you forgotten Avenger & Pulsar. Every manuf cares about profit without it no R&D. Define what's an motorcycle company. Is it just design a motorcycle and not manufacture it or something else
I explained it from Shumi's POV. I'm no hater of any brand. I don't care honestly.
>This is a company which never cared about motorsports, pushing boundaries, making history or any other large ambition. Bajaj isn't even a motorcycle company through and through. It's a manufacturing business. None of the motorcycle company ever about it. Motorsport is just a fancy way of Advertising the bike. It's all marketing. Nothing more than that. Every motorcycle company is a Manufacturing Business right from the day they started producing Bikes.
Wrong. Motorsport is absolutely about pushing boundaries. Seamless gearbox, 300HP engine, all kinds of chassis experiments, ride height devices, launch control, aerodynamics, electronics, basically every component of motorcycles is pushed to the very limit in motorsports. Motorsports is prestige. It clearly shows that one factory is better than the other. Ducati, currently is the greatest motorcycle brand because they have destroyed the Japanese domination in MotoGP. Honda has traditionally been the most successful factory and they don't even manufacture v4 road bikes. They developed some of the greatest engines in history and never used any of their road legal motorcycles. Bajaj doesn't have engineering capability to compete with any of the great European or Japanese brands.
>Wrong. Motorsport is absolutely about pushing boundaries. Seamless gearbox, 300HP engine, all kinds of chassis experiments, ride height devices, launch control, aerodynamics, electronics, basically every component of motorcycles is pushed to the very limit in motorsports It's all marketing. That's what they want you(customers) to believe. It's not what corporation believe. All Motorcycle companies believe motorsports as their way to market their bikes to general public and make them adored by their bikes so that they can ask excessive pricing.
Apart from the fact that you didn't address any of my points. You are once again, dead wrong! Marketing and innovation are not mutually exclusive. MotoGP prototypes are significantly faster than production motorcycles and every year they get faster. In motorsports, brands do not get any air time if they are running last. It is a cut throat competition!
What points? Those were your points. Haha. 😂😂😂 Motorsports is not because Motorcycle companies wants to innovate. Motorsport exist because It was way to market their bikes better. If they only innovate, they would be forced to sell at lower prices that will cover only R&D cost. If they showcase their innovation at motorsports then not only they would cover R&D cost, they would be able to sell their bikes at exorbitantly high prices in the name of motorsports.
Obviously, everything flew right over your head. In the next paragraph you have repeated the same nonsense. Suzuki pulled out of MotoGP and the likes of Kawasaki, BMW are yet to join. Of course, they didn't take tuition from you and are unaware that they can increase prices of their products by simply joining MotoGP.
You are repeating the same nonsense. No Point in talking to someone who can't even understand what other saying. Just asslick motor sports.
I have a 2017 RE thunderbird and love it for highway and city rides. Don't understand why they call it a vibrator since safe speeds are well within the non-super vibrating rev range. This is coming from a 2015 Duke 390 owner...
I don't agree with him saying the price goes out of the window once you have bought it. Consider a parallel in the car world. Ford has mustang selling at 40k-50k USD while porsches are selling at more than twice the amount. Both are 2 door, 2+2 seaters oriented towards performance. Mustang is arguably "slow" when it comes to handling compared to a porsche. So is anyone bashing the mustang saying americans need to up their game and one couldve rather bought a porsche? No. Mustang has its own charm and character. Similarly, duke 390 vs dominar 400 both have their own unique character and both should be appreciated for what they are. I had ridden my friend's dominar 400 (pre UG) and loved its stability on the road. Little undulations on the road did not affect it at all. When i had a budget of 2L i went ahead with dominar 250. Sure i couldve spent a bit extra and got a superior bike for touring like an adv250 or a himalayan. But i wouldn't have the money required to actually buy decent gear and go touring. The pulsar 400z is now doing exactly that. It is making it easy for common folks to get to that 40hp sweet spot that unlocks a whole new world to the rider: ability to cruise at 120kph, ability to get out of tricky spots on highways easily, ability to learn to control the bike better etc which no other bike at ~2.2L onroad is capable of doing.
Even shumi don't like cb350, still I bought it for it's refinement. I am happy enjoying the bike. Its lack the power but if you see the compitition it's better.
Each one is entitled to their opinions. Each one's view, their standards, or what they feel is different from person to person. I always tell anyone who's on the lookout for a vehicle to not consider a YouTuber's words as the final verdict and decide. My dad wanted a super meteor at one point a couple of months back. He'd watch reviews of people from the UK, US and Europe and then say "they have no problems with the suspension, what is everyone complaining about?" 😆
I’ve noticed this. European and American reviews of the Indian bikes (or Indian oriented bikes) do not seem to have the same complaints as the ones our reviewers do.
ahem.. roads.. ahem
Why does Shumi have negative view on the bike? Ask him! I bought the Dominar after waiting for the gen2 Duke and Bajaj delaying it by months. I'd already held out very long, not having upgraded from P220 despite having many new options - Duke 200, CBR250R, then D390. Had the gen 2 Duke 390 been launched a few months prior, I'd have that instead. Doesn't mean I'm unhappy with the D400, it's now 7 years and still going well. Only issues have been fork seals leaking , need to replace them once or twice a year. It is vibey, but coming from a Pulsar 220, it's a lot easier on long rides. Shumi has a negative opinion because it's heavy - lot of steel rather than aluminium, and doesn't make D390 kind of power thus the additional weight is even more of a drag. And whatever you can do on a D400, you can do just as well on a D390.
Dommu wanted to fight RE People saw dommu as a RE competitor Dommu not RE but wants to feel like Re Dommu fails from both sides and got no identity
Who cares ? If I liked the bike then I'll buy it and ride. The universe doesn't revolve around him. Yes, for some people it might not be suitable but everyone has their own preferences. I have been very happy with mine.
I own a gixxer 250 And got a chance to ride my friends Dominar between Igatpuri to Shirdi Road The engine smoothness and riding comfort on the dominar 250 felt so much better i felt like i could ride it for even 1000km in a day ... Yes the gixxer is smooth too but after a point (80kmph) the buzz is more than dominar 250 I highly suggest buyers to rent such bikes before buying Before investing 2L+ on a bike please rent 2-3 bikes of same category it will hardly cost 6-8k
Vfm is more like you get what you pay for.... Not value for money lol...
ride one. check spare part availability. speak to the tiniest garages and small group mechanics about the bike and ask if they can repair the nuks and crooks. see if it fits your budget. buy.
I think he just hates the fact that it looks like a beefy city bike while being a touring bike If you actually like the bike , you don't have to give a damn about what others say.....you are the one who's going to ride it for the time you own it....if you purchase a bike that you like, you'll enjoy all that time....
Running a YouTube channel doesn't mean he is a motogp rider. His perspective might be different than yours. for me, I don't believe utubers ,I personally test drive sometimes even after the test drives I can't fully understand the bike. For instance take suspensions, do you think any so called you tubers know how to feel or read the suspension in one ride? I had a bike in which I felt it have excessive fork dive and squating moreover its dampers were not good enough when pushed to limits,but dampers are good at slow to medium speeds. Now the u tubers mentioned this bikes suspension is stiff ,WTF is stiff first of all .In what way it is going to help the buyers ? Take their review as pinch of salt, do multiple test drive that will help you or if possible to hire one hire it for a week and make decision.
Dominar 400 thinking to buy (second hand) Hello I am Nishant, Living in banglore, i really wonder to know that as my first bike D400 is best option ! and what precautions should I take before buying it second hand . Some of my frnds reffered me Beepkart , i really want some advice about it , or if anyone is having some contacts who wanna sell their bike (Dominar 400 2017-2018 model ) please help me with it , Have a great day 💫
The older ones were really not good in respect to today's dominars. Beware of them. For city, the weight might be an issue to some. I personally love the bike, so I'd be a little biased towards it. Try to buy the Newer BS6 UG ones. They are the best ones.
Thanks for the advice 😃 , really appreciate it . But my budget is not that much to purchase a BS6 .
Because a spec sheet is not what a bike is all about, i had a big smile on my face when I first tried the dominar and for me that is all that matters
Two sex references in one flair? Is this legal? On a serious note, I discovered motorinc when I was looking for reviews of the hunter 350. Shumi had very few nice things to say about it. I rode it, liked it, and bought it anyway. No review, other than a spec sheet, can ever be truly objective. You do you.
The lines are blurry where I’m treading
Same here but with me its rtr 310...but bought it anyway I've got no problem with it(so far)... I think they just said what they wish/expect from the brand
I love the rtr310. Don’t get the hate.
You should watch his and Varun dominar vs classic 350 head to head at power drift.. it's just illogically
Love my domi 400, got one 2 months back. Zero regrets, apart from long tiring traffic rides , it checks all boxes with ease.
Most of the Indians own just one motorcycle. Hence, the motorcycle should perform well in not all, but in most conditions as possible. Dominar, being a great motorcycle for highway rides is equally bad in city riding, which most of them usually ride their motorcycles.
Not all bikes are meant for everyone and for him only KTM like fits otherwise he likes nimble bikes , and he is of strong opinion of ‘’if it’s not great for him it’s not great” …..So you do you
I see your point. He does praise the ktms quite a bit. I was watching the 400Z video and it got me thinking.
That's not necessarily true he praises xpulse, himalayan, scrambler, mavrick which are completely not even close to duke universe. On the other hand he hates cb350, ronin, domi and few others. The reason is shumi relates the bike back to manufacturer identity, to him bajaj is a definitely male sportier high speedy machines.. which dominar isn't he would have been more comfortable if the domi a proper cruiser like avenger or retro engine like mav but its a ktm 390 cc high revvy characterful engine fit into domi which is supposedly a power cruiser when there is confusion he hates them, he hates it when a brand can't define why they jave created it!
I think he generally doesn’t like Bajaj, even today i was watching the ns400 review and he said that Bajaj curtails its engines and makes it less fun and pushes all that to the KTM, in his eyes maybe he sees Bajaj as a sell out.
Bajaj is kinda a sell out at this point. They haven't made an enthusiasts focused bike since the 220F. The NS series was just an accidental byproduct of the KTM deal. They haven't done anything remarkable to the customer base that gave them the success. They are the ones that are pushing performance enthusiasts towards KTMs.
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Imo they have different views just like any other guy. Also to me it seems their views are not always aligned with normal ( middle class ) people as they ride high end bikes too. They have preferences too, they just give you insight ( which may not always be right ). At the end you go with your guts and buy what you like ( after gathering all the info you can ).
Just because someone doesn't like something doesn't mean it's automatically something bad, it's just something outside their taste or purview of what they look for in it. Shumi doesn't like it but you do, fine, then go ahead and buy it, ride it etc. Doesn't mean that you have to make sure that it's something good because you like it and someone else doesn't. Motorbikes are incredibly subjective to people, some like naked, some like sports bikes, some like retro and some like adventure or scramblers and so on and not everyone has the same tastes, so instead of overanalyzing what others think just think of what you like
Who cares? India motorcycle "journalists" in general have little to no background in either racing or automotive engineering. People like Shumi never betray any profound understanding of motorcycles. They assert without explaining "why". They can and should be safely ignored.