Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

[zestbiker]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

You are referrrring to KTM which is a high compression engine with DOHC and produces 8 more horses. Bajaj has done a fair job of taming the beast of an engine to suit the cruisers character. But the downgrade to SOHC could be causing the vibes (just a speculation). Because what I have observed is that in DOHC engines the secondary Cams take over at higher rpms and vibes suddenly reduce when this happens. They could have retained the DOHC configuration in place of two extra spark plugs.. my 2 cents.

In a DOHC engine like the D390,one cam called the inlet cam operates the set of inlet valves at all times and the other cam called the exhaust cam operates the set of exhaust valves at all times-not as you say that one cam takes over from the other at higher rpm.
In a SOHC engine like the Dominor400,one single camshaft operates both the sets of inlet valves as well as exhaust valves.
You can check out the different cylinder head designs and cam configurations on Google baba.

[siva1001]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

In a DOHC engine like the D390,one cam called the inlet cam operates the set of inlet valves at all times and the other cam called the exhaust cam operates the set of exhaust valves at all times-not as you say that one cam takes over from the other at higher rpm.
In a SOHC engine like the Dominor400,one single camshaft operates both the sets of inlet valves as well as exhaust valves.
You can check out the different cylinder head designs and cam configurations on Google baba.

It was off my memory, I confused it with VTEC technology. Thanks for the clarification though. But my point is, Duke 390 is a lot smoother at high speeds compared to Dominar, and the OHC count differs.

[zestbiker]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

It was off my memory, I confused it with VTEC technology. Thanks for the clarification though. But my point is, Duke 390 is a lot smoother at high speeds compared to Dominar, and the OHC count differs.

Yes,the D390 isn't as vibey as the D400-guess maybe due to the different cam operations,cam profiles or just the way it's mounted in that twin spar frame-a latice frame as in the D390 is a lot more springy in the vibe department while being stiff at the same time-guess the vibrational harmonic frequencies of the D400 engine and frame don't make the best couple[emoji6]

[I Ride Alone]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

The motul lube for chain works great. Not sure how OKS works as it was out of stock.

The chain is wet and looks sufficiently lubricated without looking greasy.

Used C1 for cleaning and C2 for lubrication. But don't attempt to clean with the bike running in gear. So many things can and has gone wrong for many.

Just use a cloth to grip the chain and clean while rotating the wheel manually (after 5 minutes of using C1).

Used the car jack on frame to lift the rear wheel slightly.

Cheers.

[Xdiavelshank]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Hi guys

Wanted some advice. I plan to buy a bike by Sept. I haven't been on a bike in a while now never really owned one either. So is buying a dominar the best choice for me? Is it a good first bike? I'm almost 6'2 and around 85 kgs.

I want to move to a bigger bike in 2 years time. Any thoughts?

[Raman Swaminathan]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Hi guysWanted some advice. I plan to buy a bike by Sept. I haven't been on a bike in a while now never really owned one either. So is buying a dominar the best choice for me? Is it a good first bike? I'm almost 6'2 and around 85 kgs. I want to move to a bigger bike in 2 years time. Any thoughts?

Hello! You are certainly Big enough for the bike but I fear the bike might be too Big for a first bike.NS is wonderful for your height and also comes with ABS. It is also a powerful model and not a tottering commuter.Alternatively, you can try for the FZ25, but I will strongly recommend an ABS Enable bike for a beginner.My first bike is the Apache RTR ABS, and I have always been thankful for the ABS and the safety net it provides to me. Cheers!

[Xdiavelshank]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Hello! You are certainly Big enough for the bike but I fear the bike might be too Big for a first bike.NS is wonderful for your height and also comes with ABS. It is also a powerful model and not a tottering commuter.Alternatively, you can try for the FZ25, but I will strongly recommend an ABS Enable bike for a beginner.My first bike is the Apache RTR ABS, and I have always been thankful for the ABS and the safety net it provides to me. Cheers!

Hi thanks for your advice. My follow up would be, if I need to move up to a 800-900 cc bike after 2 years. Can I after a 200 cc bike? Wouldn't the jump be too big then? Also I don't wanna buy another bike.

[Ijs]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

The run-in also makes a difference. I noticed that the vibrations were noticeable at 70+ KMs during the 1K Run-in. Now at 1500 Kms, the vibrations are noticeable only at 80+ Kms. Hoping to see the 80+ Kms vibrations reduce after the 2K run-in period.

My 2k is almost over lets see what happens now , but i feel vibes only at 85kmph to 90kmph got numb hands only once.

Thanks leech/I ride alone. With enormous number of kilometres under my belt, I can safely say that higher RPM even on 600cc+ has never been an issue. However, I consider myself a safe rider who likes to commute smoothly. Dominar is just not letting me.

Forget the rpm try this, keep the bike in 5th gear in city and speed at 50kmph it works like smooth criminal. I call this glide mode and ride like this with wify on board. Super smooth this way.

I have done more than 4200km and now the bike feels more smooth and negligible vibrations ...except for a few loose nut bolts :-)

Heard the same from other owners and there is one bike i rode which has more than 6k kms on odo and is very smooth, the owner only using bajaj oil.

Yes,the D390 isn't as vibey as the D400-guess maybe due to the different cam operations,cam profiles or just the way it's mounted in that twin spar frame-a latice frame as in the D390 is a lot more springy in the vibe department while being stiff at the same time-guess the vibrational harmonic frequencies of the D400 engine and frame don't make the best couple[emoji6]

Hmm getting confused here bade bhai, as according to Sudhira on bcmt his old d390 feels like a unrefined tractor in front of smooth D400. Wiase nice to read u here too.

[zestbiker]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

IJS,am talking about the more refined 2017 D390 as I have next to no experience of the old D390 whereas I have ridden the new D390 quite a few times as an acquaintance n business associates son bought it on my recommendation.
To tell you actually,they must be two different varieties of oranges but oranges they both are.BTW Sudhira has got the D400 sponsored by Bajaj free for his 12000km Trans Asian ride up to Siberia -when he met me in Nov2016 after his Leh ride,he said that he was kinda tired with the constant frentic nature of the KTM bike.D400 is much better in that department as to move effortlessly and jerk free at slow speeds as stated by another participant's glide mode

[zestbiker]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Oh ,that glide mode participant is you [MENTION=89004]Ijs[/MENTION] 😀

[AkshayMithyantha]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

My bike has undergone it's first service as of now... Yesterday i pushed it a little... And yes you don't feel buzz past 100kmph but it is still there..as my hands did went numb n so after the ride... Just my observation

My bike has since nearly 3300kms.. 3 trips to Bangalore and back, from Mysore and a 800km, 2 day trip done.. In all these rides, I never felt my hand getting numb due to vibrations (my bike is from second batch).. Yes, I agree you get a buzz around 3.5 to 4.5k rpm range, but it never felt like a deal breaker for me.. I come from Pulsar 150 and have ridden Classic 350 before this, so I feel the vibes are a lot more tolerable.. And to be frank, the vibes do come down as you clock kms.. 1st service do wonders and I have changed oil at 3000kms too.. Maybe that helped, I don't know.. Hope your bike becomes as smooth as many owners' bike here..

Cheers.

[benz]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

My bike has since nearly 3300kms.. 3 trips to Bangalore and back, from Mysore and a 800km, 2 day trip done.. In all these rides, I never felt my hand getting numb due to vibrations (my bike is from second batch).. Yes, I agree you get a buzz around 3.5 to 4.5k rpm range, but it never felt like a deal breaker for me.. I come from Pulsar 150 and have ridden Classic 350 before this, so I feel the vibes are a lot more tolerable.. And to be frank, the vibes do come down as you clock kms.. 1st service do wonders and I have changed oil at 3000kms too.. Maybe that helped, I don't know.. Hope your bike becomes as smooth as many owners' bike here..

Cheers.

Which oil did you put now?

[AkshayMithyantha]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

Which oil did you put now?

I use Shell Full Synthetic 10w50 Oil.. Have been using it for past 4 years for both Pulsar and Classic..

[I Ride Alone]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

My 2k is almost over lets see what happens now , but i feel vibes only at 85kmph to 90kmph got numb hands only once.


Forget the rpm try this, keep the bike in 5th gear in city and speed at 50kmph it works like smooth criminal. I call this glide mode and ride like this with wify on board. Super smooth this way.

6th gear glide mode is at 70 KMs.

[IamAditya]

Re: Bajaj Dominar 400 Ownership Experience Thread

6th gear glide mode is at 70 KMs.

That will be the economy mode too.
What F.E do you get?