Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

[Ravishankar]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Took a test ride of the dominar and the fz 250 with a frnd who wants to buy it. The dominar was disappointing to say the least. The test ride bike was in bad shape, completely dried chain, buzzing tank panels, engine snatching even above 3k rpm and the enormous turning radius, but expected from a big bike. Now compared that to the fz 250, although it skims on feature's and raw performance, the superiorly engineered engine is something you cant deny or take away from yamaha. In the end it felt like a match between a martial artist and a pehelwan or a sumo. !

You check with other dealers for a better test ride bike. The Dominar engine is no way inferior to the Yamaha engine. The Base is of KTM gene. The design is beautifully executed in the Dominar by Bajaj. Yes. The engine is not butter smooth. And its the nature of it. You can't expect a KTM gene engine to behave like a Honda or a Yamaha. Little crudeness is there in the bike. But I love my Dominar the way it is.

[I Ride Alone]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Thanks [MENTION=48340]Akash.Yadav[/MENTION]
Though I didn't have any water enter the fuel tank.
I think it's a good idea to siphon out the fuel and have it refueled.

The stalling started only after the ECU remap to 112.
Maybe the remap should also be checked.

Thanks.

Removed most of the fuel and replaced with HP Power. Bike hasn't stalled since then.

Cheers.

[Vikramaditya]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Hi every one its been two weeks since I purchase my bike dominar 400. I would like to share my experience with u all. though I love my bike it gave me an headache with in few days of my purchase.while I am on a ride around evening it was the first time my bike engine stopped in heavy traffic and I noticed engine malfunction indicator light was on and coolant temperature indicator light too . I tried to start the but no use waited for around 10 minutes and tried again bike started.later continued my ride but same problem again and again. my bike almost stopped around 6 times later that day.

Later that evening I called Bajaj service guy and explained what happened they asked me to bring the bike I went gave by bike they told will check the problem and will call me next day.i was waiting and finally call came around evening to take delivery I went to showroom they said the problem was fuel and told not to fill from same petrol station and asked me to drain the petrol if possible.

Later that evening around 8 thought to go for long ride to check the bike with in just 10 minutes during my ride bike stopped in traffic again so decided to drain the petrol and filled other petrol brand and it's was around 11 went for ride around 50 km every thing was fine I thought problem solved. But my bad time was not over . the very next day morning around 9 in traffic bike stopped again but I noticed on thing every time when coolant temperature indicator light starts blinking and when u continue to ride for few minutes engine malfunction lights starts to blink too and right away engine stops. Called bajaj service guy and went to showroom and explained What happened he said there may be a problem in coolant said will check . i went home its was around 10:30 am . Later that evening Got a call from showroom that problem was fixed I went and asked what was the problem the culprit was coolant fan not working and they replaced a new fan in warranty since that problem I done around 500 km everything was fine I am happy with my bike .

So please do check if coolant working or not while taking delivery.while I am talking delivery I ask them coolant fan checked or not they they said Pre Delivery Inspection was done every thing was fine I believed them .So pls don't do the same mistake as I did. As it was a coolant issue while riding at night I didn't get any problem. It was when I was riding around evening in chennai heat u will notice the issue.

I thought I should share this with u guys. I explained The way I could . May be my experience with my bike will help u all in future cheers and enjoy the ride [emoji173]️

[ATTACH]230413[/ATTACH][ATTACH]230414[/ATTACH]

Hi Ravi,

Though I am happy that your issue was resolved under warranty, this attitude of the service centre to shift the blame to external factors without doing a deep dive into the issue is what irks me and keeps potential buyers worried. Its no secret that even non Bajaj users know how appalling the SVCs are. Though I believe every bike should be treated with respect by any company, I feel they should go the extra distance for their flagship product.

In this case the powers that be have decided that they wanna sell nearly 8000 units a month by September whereas the current sales of the Dominar are near the 1500 mark and declining. In such a scenario a customer centric focus should be the first mandate. How can Bajaj expect to meet their sales projections if they treat current owners this way?

Just look at what you had to go through. A new bike costing nearly 2 lakhs and despite telling the SVC that the engine coolant light was on, their solution was to get the fuel changed. Talk about passing the blame on to the customer/petrol pump. Its this lethargic attitude which makes people crib about Bajaj and their products.

The purpose of this post is not incite you or turn you against Bajaj and i know that even the Japs arent the best when it comes to SVCs, but Bajaj has a potent product and they should be setting benchmarks which matter. Just providing an amazing product is not enough, if the After Sales Service is so inadequate then what is the point?

The success of any brand depends on not just the promises it makes, but in the execution of those promises. High time Bajaj learnt this.

[I Ride Alone]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Hi Ravi,

Though I am happy that your issue was resolved under warranty, this attitude of the service centre to shift the blame to external factors without doing a deep dive into the issue is what irks me and keeps potential buyers worried. Its no secret that even non Bajaj users know how appalling the SVCs are. Though I believe every bike should be treated with respect by any company, I feel they should go the extra distance for their flagship product.

In this case the powers that be have decided that they wanna sell nearly 8000 units a month by September whereas the current sales of the Dominar are near the 1500 mark and declining. In such a scenario a customer centric focus should be the first mandate. How can Bajaj expect to meet their sales projections if they treat current owners this way?

Just look at what you had to go through. A new bike costing nearly 2 lakhs and despite telling the SVC that the engine coolant light was on, their solution was to get the fuel changed. Talk about passing the blame on to the customer/petrol pump. Its this lethargic attitude which makes people crib about Bajaj and their products.

The purpose of this post is not incite you or turn you against Bajaj and i know that even the Japs arent the best when it comes to SVCs, but Bajaj has a potent product and they should be setting benchmarks which matter. Just providing an amazing product is not enough, if the After Sales Service is so inadequate then what is the point?

The success of any brand depends on not just the promises it makes, but in the execution of those promises. High time Bajaj learnt this.

Also....the quality of service engineers are different across service centers. Please check and review the service center before giving your bike for service/trouble shooting.
I pass a SC near my home and travel additional 15 Kms to get to a better SC.

Cheers.

[manu777]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Hi Ravi,

Though I am happy that your issue was resolved under warranty, this attitude of the service centre to shift the blame to external factors without doing a deep dive into the issue is what irks me and keeps potential buyers worried. Its no secret that even non Bajaj users know how appalling the SVCs are. Though I believe every bike should be treated with respect by any company, I feel they should go the extra distance for their flagship product.

In this case the powers that be have decided that they wanna sell nearly 8000 units a month by September whereas the current sales of the Dominar are near the 1500 mark and declining. In such a scenario a customer centric focus should be the first mandate. How can Bajaj expect to meet their sales projections if they treat current owners this way?

Just look at what you had to go through. A new bike costing nearly 2 lakhs and despite telling the SVC that the engine coolant light was on, their solution was to get the fuel changed. Talk about passing the blame on to the customer/petrol pump. Its this lethargic attitude which makes people crib about Bajaj and their products.

The purpose of this post is not incite you or turn you against Bajaj and i know that even the Japs arent the best when it comes to SVCs, but Bajaj has a potent product and they should be setting benchmarks which matter. Just providing an amazing product is not enough, if the After Sales Service is so inadequate then what is the point?

The success of any brand depends on not just the promises it makes, but in the execution of those promises. High time Bajaj learnt this.

There was a post from me regarding oil leak from the clutch cover drill hole plug. It was 1 month back I think. 3 or 4 days before I did first service. So for obvious reasons when I noticed the leak I suspected oil filter cover. I checked very well and found out that it was not from filter, but from somewhere else. After hours of riding and inspection I found out that it was from drill hole plug but I was not 100 sure. I took my bike to SC just told about the leak and they can see the oil Sheen in engine gaurd. I did mention about the 1 St service also. The moment I mentioned about 1 St service they confirmed that the oil leak is from filter cover o ring. But I was sure it was not from there, so I went to their workshop with the mechanic. He was also simply going for that o ring change. But I insisted to check the leakage and said about the doubt on hole plug. Then he wiped that portion idled bike and checked for leaks. Then it is from hole plug only. They changed the full clutch cover. So the case is if I didn't pinpoint that they will simply change the filter oring. For them Bajaj's premium bike is just a regular bike and instead of finding out the real problem they used to jump on to assumptions and do the maintenance. So I think better to pinpoint the problem and if possible try to find out the cause( forum is a good place for that) because it's our bike. Now I need to go to SC. Rat attack on my D4 wiring. Indicator and head lamp not working. Let's see

[abhishyam2016]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

There was a post from me regarding oil leak from the clutch cover drill hole plug. It was 1 month back I think. 3 or 4 days before I did first service. So for obvious reasons when I noticed the leak I suspected oil filter cover. I checked very well and found out that it was not from filter, but from somewhere else. After hours of riding and inspection I found out that it was from drill hole plug but I was not 100 sure. I took my bike to SC just told about the leak and they can see the oil Sheen in engine gaurd. I did mention about the 1 St service also. The moment I mentioned about 1 St service they confirmed that the oil leak is from filter cover o ring. But I was sure it was not from there, so I went to their workshop with the mechanic. He was also simply going for that o ring change. But I insisted to check the leakage and said about the doubt on hole plug. Then he wiped that portion idled bike and checked for leaks. Then it is from hole plug only. They changed the full clutch cover. So the case is if I didn't pinpoint that they will simply change the filter oring. For them Bajaj's premium bike is just a regular bike and instead of finding out the real problem they used to jump on to assumptions and do the maintenance. So I think better to pinpoint the problem and if possible try to find out the cause( forum is a good place for that) because it's our bike. Now I need to go to SC. Rat attack on my D4 wiring. Indicator and head lamp not working. Let's see

Yes! I have the same experience with some other service centers as well. So I have resorted to taking my bike to my trusty mech for all work. He's a no BS, only work kinda guy and doesn't waste time. Only in some things he doesn't have the solution or his service isn't on par with service centre, only then I go to the authorised service.

[Ijs]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Please do. Also check what rpm the bike stays on when throttle is not give, ie in 1st gear.

Mine is at 2.5k rpm, 11kmph.

A few members said this number drops to 1.5rpm and 5-6kmph after the update but its the same for me.

sorry for late reply, at 11 or 12 kmph my rpm is at 2k not 2.5k.


I am mostly using normal petrol from IOC without any stalling issue or lag, never used the premium fuel in any of my bikes(I try not to spoil them). I just try not to shift below 4k rpm.
yet to check the fe with the new map but I am positive that there should be no drop, will get the tank topped up in few days and calculate.

[xearoum]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Now that everybody here has given their piece of mind, let me share what happened with my Dominar.
As I have mentioned in the past, there is a few niggles that I have been facing.
1) Rubbing sound when coasting without input at 10-11KMPH.
2) Strong clicking sound from engine after riding it for a few minutes.
3) Hard Gear shifts and getting stuck in neutral.
4) The obvious buzzing sound from tank.

After repeated attempts, Krishna Bajaj Pune was not able to fix anything for me.
I thought of checking with Gems Bajaj for second opinion where I was told that I should try previous service center once again and if they cant fix, come back here.
In the meantime, he asked me to come along where he was to take a small test ride to understand the issue.
This guy revved the hell out of the engine in 3rd gear and completely got me surprised.
Then he goes another hundred meters and revs like a 12 year old; who doesnt know what the accelerator is for.

He drops off in the return trip still discussing about the issue. Asks me to go back to Krishna Bajaj to review.
I went off and realized that the engine sound has increased drastically and now I was feeling scared about any major damage this may have caused.

Dropped my bike to the service center and they said they took care of the issues (5th time in my 4 month ownership).
and yet again, I am here; telling you guys that nothing got fixed.
for that matter, it has become worse. I have lost my hopes from Bajaj and I fully regret making this stupid decision.

now I have no clue of what I am going to do with this bike. Selling it off at a loss is the only thing possible now.
Should have listened to my fellow riders. Should have gone for Yamaha or KTM.
Sure I can talk to the customer care but can they really undo the damage done?
Bajaj themselves dont understand the meaning of engine run in?
Guys, please dont take it as a bad comment for the bike itself. These are just the machines and they will have issue every now and then.
Its just that after owning a range of bikes from various vendors, I really had better expectations from Bajaj.
now that I think about it, I'll probably just find a good mechanic to look at the bike from here on. Bajaj will be there till 3rd free service.

[Akash.Yadav]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Now that everybody here has given their piece of mind, let me share what happened with my Dominar.
As I have mentioned in the past, there is a few niggles that I have been facing.
1) Rubbing sound when coasting without input at 10-11KMPH.
2) Strong clicking sound from engine after riding it for a few minutes.
3) Hard Gear shifts and getting stuck in neutral.
4) The obvious buzzing sound from tank.

It's really sad to hear that. You have to drop a strongly written email to Bajaj quoting everything that has happened with the bike since you put down the hard earned money. My experience with Bajaj has been positive and I still can't believe Bajaj can do this with the premium customers.
Also it might be a little far but try the Bajaj showroom on Mumbai Pune highway, near Dapodi/Pimple Gurav. I took test ride from there and they seemed good. This is a shared showroom with Maruti Suzuki so they've to keep it up to the mark.

[PrinceCruise]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

After repeated attempts, Krishna Bajaj Pune was not able to fix anything for me.
I thought of checking with Gems Bajaj for second opinion
Its just that after owning a range of bikes from various vendors, I really had better expectations from Bajaj

I'm no Bajaj owner because I don't trust them with the quality, but to add to the topic- which Krishna Bajaj you went to? - Fatima Nagar or Dhanakwadi?
I live behind Fatima Nagar one and no friend of mine goes there for the service because they have a reputation of being inconsiderate, even the showroom staff next to it as well. No idea of Gems Bajaj.
You might need to find another SVC, that's the need of the hour. I take my Yamaha to an SVC 10 KMs from my home rather than the nearest one just because I've seen them screwing up with customer's bikes.

Let me know if you need some finding of good mechanics or SVC, I might check with my friends if they know.

Regards.

[siva1001]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Hi All, I bought my Dominar last week after much thought and after reading user opinions here. Thanks all who helped with my decision.

I want to know what is the proper way to run-in the bike. I read the manual but the gear change speeds to next gear mentioned there (13, 24, 37, 50, 56) seems low, I don't want to lug the engine which might cause damage. Could experts share their thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance.

[Shiva shankar]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Now that everybody here has given their piece of mind, let me share what happened with my Dominar.
As I have mentioned in the past, there is a few niggles that I have been facing.
1) Rubbing sound when coasting without input at 10-11KMPH.
2) Strong clicking sound from engine after riding it for a few minutes.
3) Hard Gear shifts and getting stuck in neutral.
4) The obvious buzzing sound from tank.

After repeated attempts, Krishna Bajaj Pune was not able to fix anything for me.
I thought of checking with Gems Bajaj for second opinion where I was told that I should try previous service center once again and if they cant fix, come back here.
In the meantime, he asked me to come along where he was to take a small test ride to understand the issue.
This guy revved the hell out of the engine in 3rd gear and completely got me surprised.
Then he goes another hundred meters and revs like a 12 year old; who doesnt know what the accelerator is for.

He drops off in the return trip still discussing about the issue. Asks me to go back to Krishna Bajaj to review.
I went off and realized that the engine sound has increased drastically and now I was feeling scared about any major damage this may have caused.

Dropped my bike to the service center and they said they took care of the issues (5th time in my 4 month ownership).
and yet again, I am here; telling you guys that nothing got fixed.
for that matter, it has become worse. I have lost my hopes from Bajaj and I fully regret making this stupid decision.

now I have no clue of what I am going to do with this bike. Selling it off at a loss is the only thing possible now.
Should have listened to my fellow riders. Should have gone for Yamaha or KTM.
Sure I can talk to the customer care but can they really undo the damage done?
Bajaj themselves dont understand the meaning of engine run in?
Guys, please dont take it as a bad comment for the bike itself. These are just the machines and they will have issue every now and then.
Its just that after owning a range of bikes from various vendors, I really had better expectations from Bajaj.
now that I think about it, I'll probably just find a good mechanic to look at the bike from here on. Bajaj will be there till 3rd free service.

One thing i just want to make it clear.
1. The clicking sound after riding is perfectly normal, this caused by thermal expansion. Normally metal tends to expand while heating and contract when cooling down, this is also known as static friction caused by metals when rapidly cooling down. So no need to worry abt tat.
2. Regarding Hard gear shifts, i too faced the same problem but once i crossed the breakin period, i could able sense gear shifts become some wat smoother.

[jidhinml]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Took a test ride of the dominar and the fz 250 with a frnd who wants to buy it. The dominar was disappointing to say the least. The test ride bike was in bad shape, completely dried chain, buzzing tank panels, engine snatching even above 3k rpm and the enormous turning radius, but expected from a big bike. Now compared that to the fz 250, although it skims on feature's and raw performance, the superiorly engineered engine is something you cant deny or take away from yamaha. In the end it felt like a match between a martial artist and a pehelwan or a sumo. The compromised vfm proposition frm bajaj is too good to be ignored, that abs and slipper clutch aided in decision gng in favour of dominar. Also we work on our bikes our self, so that's one thing that turned it in favour of dominar. It will nly see the svc cntr fr oil changes etc and warranty purposes!

Bro...I assume it's the bad condition of the test ride bike that left you unimpressed....As the same thing happened with me.....But one serious question remains on how dominar s arrive at that condition within some 5k kilometres of test riding even after assuming all the guys are ripping it during the test ride....and I took a test ride of fz25 too....one thing that impressed me was the bike was in showroom condition but the story ends there....Almost everything about the bike failed to make an impression except for the refinement.Be it the riding position,the mediocre power and the feature set...and enlighten me about this invisible engineering behind fz25....and I believe we all experience to bring home some wow factor when we buy a new bike....and I am sure many will mistake the fz25 owners for its younger sibling......No offense fz25 owners....

[akki.grl]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

I have done some cosmetic changes on my Dominar 400. I have removed the front number plate clamp and the extreme rear fender.

Hey Freebiker!
I can't see the attachment in your post. Am new to this forum but I would love to see your modification of dom400.!
Any other way i can see it?
Thanks!

[rockerravi]

Re: My First Bike, my fav Bike!

Hi Guys,

First of all I would like to Thank you guys for such a wonderful thread. I learned a lot just by reading this thread(only first half completed till now). Now let me introduce myself. I am Mayank, a software developer. Just finished college 2 years ago and started work 1.5 years ago. I live in Delhi.

I have a new member here and i have been reading this thread since the last 3-4 days and still have the second half of the thread remaining.

I have recently purchased my Bajaj Dominar 400 (midnight blue colour) on 26th May,2017 from Bagga Link in Najafgarh, New Delhi. The Show room here is comparatively very new and not even listed on the website. I have already got 610 Kms on the Odo in just 2 weeks and that too when I was on an office trip for 3 days in between!

Before this I used my Dad's scooter for 4-5 years and then my scooty which i bought last year for 1.5 years. So this is my first motorcycle. I always loved riding a two wheeler. I said two wheeler and not a motorcycle because before this I didn't have one to ride. I am pretty new to motorcycle riding but not new to riding two wheelers or driving. I have taken my Dad's ALTO800 single-handedly for more than 500kms non stop overnight on trips with friends. I love being on the road. So it was very easy for me to adapt to the bike in a day or two.

Now the thing to mention I guess is since I had not ridden(driven) motorcycles for more than 5-6 hours in my entire life before I bought mine, I did face some issue because of the powerful nature of the motorcycle. It was stopping very regularly for the first hour I rode my bike because of my inexperience about its gear to power ratio I believe. But after one hour i picked it up and since then am enjoying my new ride.

Now lets come to my experience about the bike :

PROs:
I love my bike, It's beautiful(although I would have loved a fully faired dominar, but that's just my choice), it's fast, it's powerful and with all this its the safest in its price bracket! What I love more is that it is from an Indian brand

• Its ABS is great and helps beginners like myself greatly and even helps experienced riders be safe.

• I Loved its headlight. I have felt the need for better headlights even while driving my Dad's car at night. But this bike has awesome headlights for even the darkest of nights. Yes agreed that it could have been better because the lights are not perfect for corners and turns, but still they are much better than most in this price segment. The headlights light up the entire road and I don't have much problem even while driving with the black visor of my helmet down. Although i won't recommend driving with black visor down at night. I did so just to test the headlights. My helmet has dual visor so I don't need to use the black one at night. Even when my black visor was down I felt that the light was still better than my suzuki Access scooty.

• The powerful engine has enough power to reach speeds of 120 (and more) easily (I have gone once to 120 on NH8) and the bike has enough weight to handle the speeds of more than 120 very comfortably. The weight of the bike is very well balanced and it feels virtually weightless while on the move.

• I personally loved the RVMs. They are positioned very well and offer a really good view of what is behind. The only thing is you should know how to set your RVMs for the best view.

• Comfortable ride. The saddle is comfortable. I haven't ridden tourers before so can't compare, but what I know is that the seats are really comfortable.

• As good a city ride as any 150 cc bike. I have face no problems (other than U turns as the radius is on a higher side) navigating in the city traffic. And let me remind you that the traffic in Delhi is very bad. I found it very easy as the bike is so well balanced that even at crawling speeds of 4 or 5 kmph, there is no need to put the feet down.

• The mileage is better than i expected. I am getting 21-22 easily in the city traffic. Haven't driven much on highway so can't comment.But have read great things about mileage on this thread.

• Other silent safety features like the kill switch in side stand. The bike just won't run on side stand.

CONS :

• Bajaj brought an unfinished product into the market and that is the biggest con. The bike had so many issues like the power loss which should not be there in production line bikes. Agreed that Bajaj is very quickly addressing all these problems, but my point is that they should have been sorted out before starting delivery of the vehicle

• Lack of Indicators!! No gear shift indicator, No distance to empty Indicator(could have done without if the tank had some good capacity).

• Low tank capacity. Only 13L is less for a tourer and a powerful bike like this.

• The position of front number plate has been very poorly chosen. I think that the number plate looks ugly in its current place.

• I feel that the rear break isn't up to the mark. It is good but still lacks punch. Don't confuse it with ABS. the ABS works great. And even though i feel the punch is lacking in the rear break, the breaking is still very good.

• The wires are just everywhere you look. Not something you wanna see when you shell out 1.72 lakhs(or even more at some places).

This is my honest review about how I fell about the bike. But all in all I Love this Bike and even the cons aren't much of cons. Most cons are just things that could (and maybe should) have been better. But then this is a budget buy and they had to keep it in budget so it is acceptable.

I haven't mentioned Vibes in the cons because I didn't feel much. I don't know if it is because this is my first ride or because maybe my bike might have already update ECU. Will come to know when I go to the first service in Karol Bagh on this Saturday.

I know it is very late for a review, but it just the excitement of owning such a good bike. The max I have ridden on the bike in one day is a little more that a ton and still wasn't uncomfortable.

Issues face by me:
I have faced the issue with bike jerking forward when neutral indicator is showing that it is in neutral.
I have faced power loss exactly once till now.
I feel the the engine heat in my dominar is above par and if I dont put on a pair of shoes, my feet are like half roasted after even a 10-15km ride. With shoes on, it doesn't feel hot.

Thanks Guys,
Mayank.

Hi mayanknehru


Me too faced the same issue with my bike jerking forward when neutral indicator is showing it is in neutral. (U found any solution ) Though it didn't happen offen for me