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Dominar Vs Himalayan
This post is more of an information sharing than a question. Iām posting this in āWHAT BIKEā section so that it may be useful for fellow riders searching for a new bike especially for people who are in dilemma to choose between Dominar & Himalayan. If Mods think otherwise, please move this to appropriate section. Thanks.
Intro:
I bought my first bike āTVS Apache 180ā way back in 2013, so itās been 6 years now and clocked 40,000 KMs and it ran without any major issues for most part of the time since I used to get the bike serviced regularly (to make sure 4 years extended warranty is not void š ). Lately I have been experienced few issues though, like shorting of starter motor and bizarre sound from silencer.
For long (almost 2 years) I had been planning to buy a new bike. I used to love fully faired bikes like CBR 250R. And yes that is past, since Iām married (happily though š) now I need to take into consideration my pillion aspect too. As we know fully faired bikes donāt give great seating comfort to the pillion, so they are out of my list. Also I love travelling, so I need to consider touring capabilities of the bike too.
Basic requirements/considerations:
Physique:
So taking these into consideration I shortlisted Dominar & Himalayan. I took inputs from the fellow riders here in this forum and decided to go for a test ride on both these bikes.
Dominar test drive:
The nearest dealer to me who sells Dominar is Varun Bajaj, Kondapur. I felt that the sales people over there are either lazy or not interested in selling Bajajās premium offer. Rather they are more inclined towards people who comes for Pulsars & Avengers. No surprise as they get more revenue on them due to their higher sales. Nevertheless they should at least attend to prospective Dominar buyers with courtesy.
After requesting the test drive, they kept waiting for 15-20 minutes. They finally attended and handed me 2019 UG Dominar. Had 3-4 Km test drive along with my wife. The bike felt rock solid, and enjoyed the short ride. That exhaust note when revving is awesome, and itās an eye catcher on roads.
Himalayan test drive:
Visited RE showroom at Kukatpally. Wow, the showroom experience is way different than that of Bajaj. It really felt that Iām in some kind of motor club with beautiful ambience along with the bikes & accessories in display. Salespersons where quite responsive, but unfortunately they said they donāt have test drive for Himalayan and asked me to come another day. Returned home with disappointment. Next week I called them and visited the showroom again. They handed over the keys of Himalayan. Went on 5-7 KMs spin. The bike seating felt like Iām in commanding position. The bike looks pretty tall, but didnāt feel any difference in the seat height. The acceleration is not as aggressive as Dominar, but the ride is good when reaching speeds of 50-60kmph. Also revved the bike, but man, felt lot of vibrations on the handle bar, a typical RE bikes characteristics. My wife said she is more comfortable on Himalayan because of the backrest. I also felt the Himalayanās seat has softer cushion when compared to Dominar.
Having to choose between Dominar & Himalayan:
Having had the test drives of both the shortlisted bikes, we didnāt have the real winner. Since we drove for a short distance, we two couldnāt figure out the pros & cons of both the bikes. So decided to go for long drives on both bikes.
Long test drive on Dominar:
Dominar is easily found on couple of bike rental sites, but they are 2017 models. After comparing tariffs I finally narrowed down to Drivezy.
Booked Dominar for 12 hrs on drivezy (I will give my review on this rental service in a separate post). The booking amount is Rs.242 for 12 hrs with fuel included (they will reimburse fuel bills after deducting per km charges).
After checking few locations around Hyderabad we fixed on āSingur Damā which is 90Kms approx from city centre. It involves 25Kms of city ride, 45Kms of highway (Hyderanad-Mumbai NH65) ride and 20Kms of single lane road towards the dam.
I documented this long test drive as a travelogue, the link of which is given below:
https://www.xbhp.com/talkies/tourer/...long-ride.html
First impressions of the bike:
As Iām 168cm (5.5), Iām always sceptical about the bikeās weight and seat height. But upon sitting on the bike Iām surprised to see that both of my foot are almost planted on the ground and this made me very happy & confident.
Pros & Cons of Dominar that I found during the long test ride:
Pros:
Cons:
Vibrations:
Yes it isnāt as smooth as Yamaha and at the same time doesnāt vibrate as much as the Himalayan. So comparatively Dominar is much smoother than Himalayan.
Long test drive on Himalayan:
I had searched for two weeks for renting Himalayan, but couldnāt find anywhere. So I reached out to the sales manager in RE showroom that I visited earlier and told him my concern. He reacted positively and said he can arrange it on a weekend for a complete day and shared his number to remind him next week. I messaged him the next week but didnāt get any reply for next 4-5 days, so messaged him again and waited for a week for his response and realised that it is of no use.
So upon searching for a rental Himalayan for almost a month now, I gave up.
The Conclusion:
So finally me and wife decided to go for Dominar (Well I bribed my wife for her vote š. I promised her that I would be getting a backrest fixed on Dominar for which she happily agreed.)
The booking, purchase and delivery:
Coming soonā¦
Intro:
I bought my first bike āTVS Apache 180ā way back in 2013, so itās been 6 years now and clocked 40,000 KMs and it ran without any major issues for most part of the time since I used to get the bike serviced regularly (to make sure 4 years extended warranty is not void š ). Lately I have been experienced few issues though, like shorting of starter motor and bizarre sound from silencer.
For long (almost 2 years) I had been planning to buy a new bike. I used to love fully faired bikes like CBR 250R. And yes that is past, since Iām married (happily though š) now I need to take into consideration my pillion aspect too. As we know fully faired bikes donāt give great seating comfort to the pillion, so they are out of my list. Also I love travelling, so I need to consider touring capabilities of the bike too.
Basic requirements/considerations:
- Budget : Around 2L
- Intended usage: Office commutes & occasional touring with pillion.
- Fuel Efficiency requirement (approx., if any) : Not a concern since looking for higher CC bikes
- Approximate Daily / Monthly running: Weekdays - 25KMs (to & fro) daily.
- City / Town /Village of residence (so we can evaluate road conditions / traffic / terrain / altitude / OTR pricing): Hyderabad
Physique:
- Height: 168cm (5.5)
- Weight: Hovering around 70 š
So taking these into consideration I shortlisted Dominar & Himalayan. I took inputs from the fellow riders here in this forum and decided to go for a test ride on both these bikes.
Dominar test drive:
The nearest dealer to me who sells Dominar is Varun Bajaj, Kondapur. I felt that the sales people over there are either lazy or not interested in selling Bajajās premium offer. Rather they are more inclined towards people who comes for Pulsars & Avengers. No surprise as they get more revenue on them due to their higher sales. Nevertheless they should at least attend to prospective Dominar buyers with courtesy.
After requesting the test drive, they kept waiting for 15-20 minutes. They finally attended and handed me 2019 UG Dominar. Had 3-4 Km test drive along with my wife. The bike felt rock solid, and enjoyed the short ride. That exhaust note when revving is awesome, and itās an eye catcher on roads.
Himalayan test drive:
Visited RE showroom at Kukatpally. Wow, the showroom experience is way different than that of Bajaj. It really felt that Iām in some kind of motor club with beautiful ambience along with the bikes & accessories in display. Salespersons where quite responsive, but unfortunately they said they donāt have test drive for Himalayan and asked me to come another day. Returned home with disappointment. Next week I called them and visited the showroom again. They handed over the keys of Himalayan. Went on 5-7 KMs spin. The bike seating felt like Iām in commanding position. The bike looks pretty tall, but didnāt feel any difference in the seat height. The acceleration is not as aggressive as Dominar, but the ride is good when reaching speeds of 50-60kmph. Also revved the bike, but man, felt lot of vibrations on the handle bar, a typical RE bikes characteristics. My wife said she is more comfortable on Himalayan because of the backrest. I also felt the Himalayanās seat has softer cushion when compared to Dominar.
Having to choose between Dominar & Himalayan:
Having had the test drives of both the shortlisted bikes, we didnāt have the real winner. Since we drove for a short distance, we two couldnāt figure out the pros & cons of both the bikes. So decided to go for long drives on both bikes.
Long test drive on Dominar:
Dominar is easily found on couple of bike rental sites, but they are 2017 models. After comparing tariffs I finally narrowed down to Drivezy.
Booked Dominar for 12 hrs on drivezy (I will give my review on this rental service in a separate post). The booking amount is Rs.242 for 12 hrs with fuel included (they will reimburse fuel bills after deducting per km charges).
After checking few locations around Hyderabad we fixed on āSingur Damā which is 90Kms approx from city centre. It involves 25Kms of city ride, 45Kms of highway (Hyderanad-Mumbai NH65) ride and 20Kms of single lane road towards the dam.
I documented this long test drive as a travelogue, the link of which is given below:
https://www.xbhp.com/talkies/tourer/...long-ride.html
First impressions of the bike:
As Iām 168cm (5.5), Iām always sceptical about the bikeās weight and seat height. But upon sitting on the bike Iām surprised to see that both of my foot are almost planted on the ground and this made me very happy & confident.
Pros & Cons of Dominar that I found during the long test ride:
Pros:
- Seat height is manageable for an average height like me.
- Good pickup
- Comfortable rider seat, and pillion is ok
Cons:
- Turning radius: Take longer path during āUā turns in city.
- Weight: Isnāt much a problem as similar bikes in REās stable are much heavier. Said that, you need to keep more effort when taking out of parking. But the weight vanishes once you starts riding.
Vibrations:
Yes it isnāt as smooth as Yamaha and at the same time doesnāt vibrate as much as the Himalayan. So comparatively Dominar is much smoother than Himalayan.
Long test drive on Himalayan:
I had searched for two weeks for renting Himalayan, but couldnāt find anywhere. So I reached out to the sales manager in RE showroom that I visited earlier and told him my concern. He reacted positively and said he can arrange it on a weekend for a complete day and shared his number to remind him next week. I messaged him the next week but didnāt get any reply for next 4-5 days, so messaged him again and waited for a week for his response and realised that it is of no use.
So upon searching for a rental Himalayan for almost a month now, I gave up.
The Conclusion:
So finally me and wife decided to go for Dominar (Well I bribed my wife for her vote š. I promised her that I would be getting a backrest fixed on Dominar for which she happily agreed.)
The booking, purchase and delivery:
Coming soonā¦
, making the price 1.9 lakhs Ex.Showroom. 
:
to see that the ODO on the bike is just 2Km. So after I felt satisfied with the PDI check, I had given a green signal to make the bike ready for delivery.
. Iām taking delivery of 2+lakh bike, and the way they handed over my bike is disgusting. 
. I had far better experience when taking delivery of TVS Ntorq last year.
.
. I paid them Rs.700 in excess. I went directly to sales manager Mr.Pavan and told him, he has given an expression like āwhat the hell should I doā
. 
:
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