Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

[DukeNukem7]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Thanks for your answer guys!

If spending extra money ₹1.2L is not a concern and difficult to you then I'd say pick the Duke 390.

1. Both of them have become are fairly reliable now after both got minor 2019 updates, most electrical and mechanical issues have been resolved compared to first batch of 2017 bikes of both models.

2. It depends on where you stay and city, not all service centers are built equal, it's upto your luck if you have good or bad service centers around you.

3. Both heat up fair bit in city traffic, but nothing unbearable to reject these bikes.

4. If I were you I wouldn't wait if Bs4 vs Bs6 re-sale value is not your concern and not looking for selling it within 3-4 years, with Bs6 you'll have to pay easily ₹10-15K more, definitely both bikes will lose bit of horsepower due to Bs6, will also sound much less quieter. Decide if you want to have latest model or okay with getting previous model at very good discounted price.

Use this to your advantage and bargain for good discounts of ₹20-30K or free 3yrs insurance during Feb-Mar 2020 time frame, when every dealer will looking be to clear off their Bs4 stocks before 31/Mar/2020 cut off. Remember the Bs3 cut off time you got Activa free or 50K cash discount with CBR250R, Mojo was offered at 40K discount.

Well in Delhi, the difference between both the bikes is around 70k which is fine by me.

I really love the Duke 390 but my real concern with it, is its mechanical issues. A lot of people seem to have problems with the engine (engine oil mixing with coolant, engine oil burning etc.) in mere 25k KMS which leads to getting the engine rebuild. A lot of electrical issues seems to have been sorted in the 2019 model but I m still not sure about the mechanical issues.

On the other hand, Dominar seems to be more reliable on the mechanical front as I haven't seen many people complaining about the engine breaking down but it is not that fun to ride and is not as feature packed as the D390 (no offense intended [emoji23]) hence causing the confusion.

As I have already stated, I ll be using the bike mainly for touring purpose (planning to clock at least 30k KMS in a year), what do you guys suggest and also are there any other bikes I should consider in this budget (3.5 Lacs)??

Thanks in advance!

[kiran2508]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

On the other hand, Dominar seems to be more reliable on the mechanical front as I haven't seen many people complaining about the engine breaking down but it is not that fun to ride and is not as feature packed as the D390 (no offense intended [emoji23]) hence causing the confusion.

The answer to your question lies in your post itself about why you don't see many Dominar owners complaining about breaking down engine.

You don't see many Dominar riders who will be hooning the bike gunning the throttle upto 9.5K rpm hitting the revv limiter or doing sudden burst of acceleration or doing rev matching downshifts aggressively from 6th gear to 2nd gear, most of them will be either doing calming cursing speeds and/or riding fast but in a much more smoother manner.

Where as the the Duke 390 has aggressive power delivery that you'll be doing still looking to shift up even in 6th gear, do ride the Dominar like the Duke 390 like doing all of the above things, and trust me you'll then hear stories of even Dominar engine breaking down.

P.S. I'm not trying to disrespect the riding style of any of the Dominar owners

[kp4144]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Thanks for your answer guys!Well in Delhi, the difference between both the bikes is around 70k which is fine by me.

I really love the Duke 390 but my real concern with it, is its mechanical issues. A lot of people seem to have problems with the engine (engine oil mixing with coolant, engine oil burning etc.) in mere 25k KMS which leads to getting the engine rebuild. A lot of electrical issues seems to have been sorted in the 2019 model but I m still not sure about the mechanical issues.

On the other hand, Dominar seems to be more reliable on the mechanical front as I haven't seen many people complaining about the engine breaking down but it is not that fun to ride and is not as feature packed as the D390 (no offense intended [emoji23]) hence causing the confusion.

As I have already stated, I ll be using the bike mainly for touring purpose (planning to clock at least 30k KMS in a year), what do you guys suggest and also are there any other bikes I should consider in this budget (3.5 Lacs)??

Thanks in advance!

As [MENTION=59090]kiran2508[/MENTION] said, your answer lies right in your question. If you're a sedate rider, wanting to go the occasional triple digit and don't care about absolute torque, Dominar should be your pick.
But if you're gunning for torque and acceleration numbers (which I assume is your meaning of "fun") Duke 390 should be your go-to. If you'd describe your riding style as Hooliganism, look nowhere else than the Duke. Still, I want to put it out there that Dominar would not really feel too far off from D390 if you're upgrading from a 125/150cc bike. In a Dominar, you'd get the advantage of midrange pull and and slightly longer gearing and comfortable city riding (both ergonomically and mechanically) at the cost of acceleration. Both have similar suspension and braking setups, similar engines but a different engine tune. On the technology front, D390 gets ride by wire and TFT console, if that makes any difference.

For your budget, I'd also give Interceptor 650 a thought. Twin Cylinder, more powerful than either of these bikes, needs a good seat replacement to be comfortable, but has huge touring potential. Installing saddlestays and panniers on Dom and RC/Duke just looks like an afterthought, it spoils the look of the bike. Whereas on the interceptor, they feel right at home. There is no compromise on technology like the rest of the RE's too.

Take each for a test drive. Get a feel for each of them, choose for yourself. I'd not want a stranger on the Internet making my choice for me. Don't pull the trigger without taking a test drive.

[DukeNukem7]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

The answer to your question lies in your post itself about why you don't see many Dominar owners complaining about breaking down engine.

You don't see many Dominar riders who will be hooning the bike gunning the throttle upto 9.5K rpm hitting the revv limiter or doing sudden burst of acceleration or doing rev matching downshifts aggressively from 6th gear to 2nd gear, most of them will be either doing calming cursing speeds and/or riding fast but in a much more smoother manner.

Where as the the Duke 390 has aggressive power delivery that you'll be doing still looking to shift up even in 6th gear, do ride the Dominar like the Duke 390 like doing all of the above things, and trust me you'll then hear stories of even Dominar engine breaking down.

P.S. I'm not trying to disrespect the riding style of any of the Dominar owners

True that, but I also have a friend who owns a 2018 D390 and rides it very calmly, has mostly used his bike for long tours and clocked 25k KMS. Recently his bike started showing warnings of low engine oil pressure and started shutting down abruptly. After inspection with the service center he learned that the bike has started to burn engine oil and will have to get his engine opened for further process. Also talking to a lot of KTM riders everyone suggests that reliability is a hit or miss and widely depends on luck.

[kiran2508]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

KTM riders everyone suggests that reliability is a hit or miss and widely depends on luck.

The way I see it, for the kind of performance KTM RC/D390 or Dominar offers and for the price there is nothing under 7-8L that even comes close the performance offered by the KTM RC/D390 and its derived bikes like Dominar, the way one needs to hold on to the bike post 7k rpm is something a experience that I did not even get on the Kawasaki 650cc twin cylinder bikes which costs 6L+, probably the closest and cheapest is the Z800/900 that matches the pulling force the Duke 390 bikes, even the CBR650F feels tamer and controllable.

So that way say even if the engine only last 25-30K kms worst possible case and a full brand new engine rebuild with everything brand new parts maximum costs 30-40K. I'd say thats dirt cheap price for the fun and performance its has offered for the last 25-30K kms, which overall converts to ₹1K spent for every 1000kms you had fun on it, say even if you do 2 engine rebuilds the bike will be still VFM.

[vatsa]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

New bike takes time for engine to seat in, for initial engine setting in will produce lot of heat and vibrations, ride it normally till 600-800kms, get the 1st service done and see if it still exists. And yes Dominar will be little bit on viby side.

Yes. My bike has done 2500 kms now and the bike has gone silent. Wouldn't say vibe free but yes definitely manageable.

[rohitsalvi31]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

At that time, even dynamic fuel efficiency was not being displayed. (Now the console/hud seems to be working fine)
Anyway, I am going to service center tomorrow for getting "Chain Tensioner" replaced under warranty as it's was making knocking sound due to play in it.
So, I will get the bike checked for any issues/errors being displayed in console/hud.

I believe it is firmware error and not problem with something in bike in order to show error code.

" today suddenly bike stopped showing fuel efficiency" as there is no Trip on the on board computer, it will not be able to calculate the fuel efficiency. Once Trip gets some KMs on, it will show the FE also.
Dynamic FE in any case will still be shown.

[prince11592]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS12lUJifxE

best mod which can be done for dominar -17 and 18 models
please let me know any local svc where i can get it done at Hyderabad

[Swadeshi]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

best mod which can be done for dominar -17 and 18 models
please let me know any local svc where i can get it done at Hyderabad

As far as I know, King Koti is the place where bike mods are done in Hyderabad. But I don't think there any shops where Dominar specific mods are done. Its better to shop online(https://lluvia.in/, https://carbonracing.in/, https://www.zanainternational.com, https://www.autologuedesign.com/) and get them fixed by any local mechanic.

[chandru92]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Hi Guys,

I had bought the Dominar 2019. I went to local showroom and rode one of the bike . I confirmed the same bike for delivery. One thing I noticed in the bike is ODO that It has been completed 170 Kms .When I asked them that this is tested bike from Company itself and showroom guy said that it is good bike that you can buy. So , I purchased the bike .

Is it a demo bike or Is to good to take that bike which has been rode for 170 Kms.?

[yashasvi]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

They give the bike for test drive to people, that's why the odo reading.

Hi Guys,

I had bought the Dominar 2019. I went to local showroom and rode one of the bike . I confirmed the same bike for delivery. One thing I noticed in the bike is ODO that It has been completed 170 Kms .When I asked them that this is tested bike from Company itself and showroom guy said that it is good bike that you can buy. So , I purchased the bike .

Is it a demo bike or Is to good to take that bike which has been rode for 170 Kms.?

[chandru92]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

They give the bike for test drive to people, that's why the odo reading.

Thank you yashasvi.
Is it okay with the bike?

[yashasvi]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

See you have already bought the bike, if you aren't noticing any problem then why to worry

Thank you yashasvi.
Is it okay with the bike?

[yashasvi]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Thank you yashasvi.
Is it okay with the bike?

https://youtu.be/T1z1DWSZLkw
Open the comments of this video, my comment is the most liked one, read it.
I might be wrong with what i have written there but i myself was offered a bike for test drive which was to be delivered in some days to a customer. You'll understand what i'm talking about after reading my comment

[rookster]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

I'm plagued by the crash guard bolts breaking. This is the second time in 6 months that both sides bolts have broke in the thread itself. Is there a solution ? This is concerning.
Please help.