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26th September 2017, 12:18 | #271 | |
BHPian Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Chandigarh
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
Dealership 1: No test bike Dealership 2: You can test ride in the parking lot, which is less than 100 meters. I sent an email to Bajaj's customer care, but received no reply. So I decided not to spend my money on the Dominar. On the contrary, when Duke 390 was launched, I went to the only dealership in town and asked for a test ride. They were more than happy to. The guy said take as long as a test ride you want to, and didn't even sit behind me. Could also be because I went there on my friend's Ninja 650. | |
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26th September 2017, 18:41 | #272 | ||
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
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Personally, I am a bit scared of the KTM and the kind of power it unspools in an instant. Also, the styling of the thing is so futuristic, that I am almost looking for the bike to stand up and transform itself into a robot. | ||
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27th September 2017, 17:30 | #273 |
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400
Hi Mohan, Sorry to hear about your ordeal. I think I have posted this before but even being from a tier 2 city like Vadodara I remember how warm and forthcoming the sales executives were when I asked for a test ride on the phone. On reaching the showroom they actually told me to take my wife for a long ride on it and that there was plenty of fuel in the tank! I did this with a male friend later too and again the same dialogue. They were pretty excited about offering test rides and were also encouraging me for a third test ride at night to see the impact of the LED headlights. I would like to point out that at this juncture I had not even paid the booking amount. The sort of treatment you have mentioned is quite appalling but not unheard of. There is a dealership near my residence which does this. Their business is very low and despite this showroom being near my home I obviously made the purchase from the showroom which offered me multiple test rides despite it being more than 12 kms away. Lets face it, like you said, unless a potential customer experiences the bike, how is he supposed to lay down close to 2 Lakhs on a set of wheels? Last edited by ampere : 3rd October 2017 at 13:55. Reason: trimmed quoted post |
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27th September 2017, 23:29 | #274 | |
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
Other dealers may be better though. I took 2 test rides of some 5-6km each, on the Dominar before booking, and many others have. So hop over to another dealer (not owned/run by Sai Service) and insist on 'no business assured if no test ride given'. Else hop over to Pune for a test ride. | |
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28th September 2017, 00:17 | #275 | ||
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
But, I have no reason to feel reassured now because not only is the dealership not cooperating, they seem to have the formal backing of the brand in this regard. That means you, and others like you, got lucky. Your dealer gave you that test ride inspite of the brand principal (Bajaj), and not because of it. In the coming weeks, I am going to call a few more dealerships in Thane and Vashi to see if someone will help. But, really, I shouldn't have to go to all this trouble. Quote:
But, that aside, this attitude seems to be par for the course across all our local brands. I hear horror stories about Royal Enfield and the crap that they dish out to customers (both in sales and service). Bajaj is no different. And most Maruti showrooms could easily be mistaken for a government Tahsildar's office. Really, automotive companies in India lead a charmed life. In any other country, they would be up the creek without a paddle.(**) Here? Here, they've got you coming and going. This is the other reason why I hate buying new in India. I have to fork out huge gobs of cash AND put up with crap during the sales process. Then, if there are niggles with the new vehicle, I am simply supposed to suck it up and forget about all the money I am out of. At least, with a used vehicle, you get to pay substantially less money for a product that is (arguably) only slightly more crappy Sorry for sounding like a rain cloud on a sunny day. But, I guess I am a little upset. (**) Example: If I remember right, Florida has a "Lemon Law" wherein if you bring a new / newish car to the service department with the same complaint a specified number of times, then the car is considered a lemon and you are entitled to a replacement!!! This was told to me by a very dear friend who makes his living out of selling cars there. Let's think about that for a second Last edited by mohansrides : 28th September 2017 at 00:42. | ||
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28th September 2017, 00:56 | #276 | |
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
Last week I asked Sai Service Andheri for a long test ride. The sales person Mr. Deepu Sharma was very polite and agreed for a 10 Km test ride. I took the ride from SEEPZ to Tagore Nagar and back. May be the dealership had changed minds after frequent complaints. As far as the vehicle is concerned, this is the best Bajaj bike I have driven till now. Even though the demo was so much abused one (3000 Km on the ODO), it performed well. I could go till 6th gear and I must say it was an awesome ride. | |
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28th September 2017, 12:07 | #277 | |
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
I had no such issues in Chennai at Jai Bajaj. I had to wait to get my test ride bike, but it was not an issue. Test ride bike was in good condition. and I was sold on the Dominar. I even got to take my wife as pillion and gave the sales rep a copy of my license and my bike keys with him for safe keeping. I told him clearly I want a long test ride and he didn't object to the same. I feel all dealers should do this and let a person ride solo and with a pillion to see the true character of the bike; especially for premium motorcycles. Having a policy to hand over your bike keys or copy of your DL, Aadhaar also can be implemented to prevent theft. | |
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28th September 2017, 12:11 | #278 | ||
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
Diagonally Opp.Gold Spot Factory Western Express Highway, Andheri (E), Mumbai - 400069 I am asking you which dealership you went to because you mentioned riding from SEEPZ to Tagore Nagar (the one in Vikhroli East I am assuming); and I don't know of a Baja dealership near SEEPZ. At least there isn't one as per their website. Quote:
Last edited by mohansrides : 28th September 2017 at 12:15. | ||
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2nd October 2017, 21:30 | #279 | ||||||
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
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Hello Dominar Community, I have an update for all of you with a special thank you to KK, cataclysm, Vikram, Ricci, Arun, and MadRasTan4986. On September 28th, I wrote a second time to Bajaj and sent them a link to this thread. I never received a response from them. But, just a couple of hours after I sent them this thread, I got a call from the same Sai Service people who had originally asked me to make a decision based on riding the bike within their premises. This time, one Mr. Ramesh was kind enough to offer me a long test ride. As long as I wanted in fact. I told him that it was pretty hard for me to come all the way to Andheri again, and asked if he could send the bike to my house. He readily agreed and we made an appointment for today. At 2 PM this afternoon, I called him, and the bike was at my house by 3:30 PM. The salesman who rode the motorcycle to my house pretty much gave me free rein. So, I took him as a pillion until the junction of JVLR and Eastern Express Highway; then dropped him off and asked him to wait for me across the road. I then took the bike for long spin on the highway and really stretched its legs. In shorts and a Tshirt, I could get myself to only touch 105 (very briefly) before I backed off on the throttle. Overall, I rode for 15.2 KMs and concluded that I had gathered enough information to make a decision. But, the good part didn't end there. Immediately after I got off the Dominar, I took an auto to the KTM dealership. Lo and behold, they too offered me the KTM Duke 390 for a long test ride without making any fuss. Their faces did change initially when they saw that I was the same guy who had come a few days earlier (only to be told that a test ride of more than 500 meters was not possible). But, to their credit, they didn't allow any their resentments to get in the way of the transaction today. I was given the bike and told to get on with it. I rode that thing for 16.7 KMs and came away impressed. Both rides were quite informative about their respective motorcycles; and before I write my thoughts on the back to back rides on these two different beasts, I think that it is right to set some things right first. First, I want to thank Team BHP and this community of informed members. You guys are a thing of beauty. It is entirely because of Team BHP that I was able to move forward in my shopping process. Last week, I had almost given up after having dead-ended in all directions. Today, I test rode two different bikes one after another and the sales teams gave me zero trouble. Thanks to all of you, I am closer to a buying decision now. In fact, GTO and team would not be out of line at all if they asked Bajaj and / or KTM to pitch in to help maintain this site, seeing as how we probably just channelled revenue to them; and more so, because we function as beta testers who force these brands to be better versions of themselves. But then again, if we took money from these guys, we would probably lose our objectivity. But, that's another conversation altogether. Moving on, I want to give full marks to the manufacturers, Bajaj and KTM, for pushing their respective sales teams to be more responsive to customers. I never received an email response from KTM, and Bajaj didn't write back to me after I sent them this thread. But, I have no doubt that some serious back-channel diplomacy was in play here. It would be naive to assume that it was mere coincidence that the Bajaj dealership called me within 2 hours of my writing to the principal. In KTM's case too, the dealership called me the day after I wrote to KTM. Finally, I want to individually thank Sai Service Bajaj and East Mumbai KTM for having the humility to walk back their earlier statements and for allowing me to take these rides today. They sulked a lot. But, they finally came around. My only complaint is that as prospective buyers of (arguably) expensive motorcycles, we should not have to work this hard to get test rides. Anyways moving on, here is my brief comparo of the two bikes. KTM vs. Dominar - Mini Review from an non-professional 1.) Riding comfort - The Dominar wins. It was unquestionably the better bike in this regard. It had better ergonomics. Plus, my feet touched the ground easily. The Duke was not exactly uncomfortable. But, it's saddle is quite high, and the seat itself is rock hard. My butt and the insides of my thighs started hurting immediately after I sat on it. The discomfort only got worse over the 20 minutes that I rode the Duke for. I cannot imagine how I'd feel if I rode it for an hour or more. Coming to the Dominar, I was not even thinking about its seat comfort until I started riding the Duke. So, that should say something to those thinking about these two bikes. 2.) City riding - Based on online reviews, I was labouring under a misapprehension with regards to the KTM. In actuality, the Duke is not at all a hard bike to ride in the city at low speeds. In fact, the Duke was so light that I felt extremely in control when I weaved thru' traffic effortlessly. Not the case with the Dominar. Direction changes were quite challenging on the Bajaj. With regards to torque, I was quite afraid of the manic power that the Duke generates. This too was an erroneous (second-hand) perception on my part. In first gear, the bike glided off of a dead stop effortlessly. No intimidation factor here at all. But, at the same time, it would be wrong to conclude that the Duke is a sheep in wolf's clothing. On the contrary, it is indeed a powerful machine. I say this because towards the end of the ride, I was lulled into complacency while waiting at Gandhi Nagar signal; and I almost lost the bike from underneath me when I opened the throttle ever so slightly without paying attention. So, the lesson here is that as long as you are watchful, you have nothing to worry about with the Duke. In contrast, the Dominar is probably never going to scare the pants off of me from a dead stop. That bike is just too heavy for the available low end torque to lead to any dangerous situations. In lower gears, it is the Duke that is the easier bike to ride. The Dominar knocked a lot at lower speeds unless I rode the clutch aggressively. 3.) Highway riding - On the open stretches, the Duke felt quite planted with tyres that felt great. But, I actually felt safer in the Dominar. That longer wheelbase is more reassuring I guess. Plus, the seating position also had a lot to do with it. I felt like I was sitting ON the Duke, while I was sitting IN the Dominar. The slightly lower center of gravity in the Dominar helped my confidence a whole lot. In terms of usable power, when I started to push upwards of 80 or 85, the Duke appeared to be feeding me grunt in smaller doses, while the Bajaj gave me what I was asking for. That was quite strange as I was expecting the exact opposite. In 4th and 5th gear, the Dominar quickly climbed to 105 before I saw the speedo and rolled back my wrist. I never even touched 95 on the Duke!! 4.) Brakes - The rear brakes in the Dominar were almost non-existent. But, the front ones had serious bite. Together, they felt quite good. On the Duke, the rear brakes appeared more effective. I didn't test the front a lot. That was an oversight. Sorry. 5.) Engine heat - The Duke nicely baked my legs in such a short ride. Again, I never thought about the engine heat factor on the Dominar until I rode the Duke afterwards. Score Dominar. 6.) Rider information - The Duke wins hands down in the console department. Its TFT display is brilliant. All sorts of information was on hand for me, including the date, time and the battery level on my mobile phone!! The display is bright, easy to read, and I really appreciated that gear indicator. (But, at a stop light, I was waiting in first with the clutch depressed, and the gear indicator just went blank on me. I don't know if this is as per design, or if there is a glitch that KTM needs to iron out.) Going up against the Duke's, the Dominar's display appears archaic. In fact, rotary dials may have worked better. I say this because while the Dominar's speedo was legible, I had to peer quite hard to read the tacho. I also had to take my eyes off the road to do that. Not a good idea at all. 7.) Looks and Sound - Well, these are quite subjective. But, I am definitely a Dominar guy here. The Duke just looks too much like a thing that Dhinkchak Pooja's boyfriend may ride. But, the Duke did get lots of looks on the road. An auto guy actually pulled up to me and said, "bahut power hai is mein". On the other hand, not one soul even glanced at the Dominar. Soundwise, it is the Dominar that sounded richer to me, as I thought that the Duke put-putted like a muzzled auto rickshaw. Decision - I would have loved the TFT display on the Dominar. But, that aside, I am definitely a prospective customer of the Dominar. Now, let us see how the rest of the shopping process unfolds. Everything will depend on how the sales teams move from this point forward. Last edited by mohansrides : 2nd October 2017 at 21:35. | ||||||
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2nd October 2017, 21:54 | #280 | |
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
Just one advice, please don't take safety lightly on these powerful machines, it is strongly advised to at least wear a decently safe attire even for test rides, you never know when it helps and also proper riding gear when you are into rides. Going on with the comparison, though both these bikes are based on a similar engine (with a different tune), but are aimed at quite different customer base. While Duke is has monster power which give you feel of adrenaline rush, Dominar is quite composed, steady and is made for the highways. I have done around 9k kms on my Dominar and can vouch for its mile munching capabilities with a good seating position it offers, not too aggressive but sportive enough for my liking and it never runs out of power. Even in the 6th gear it pulls effortlessly, as its top gear is not a overdrive gear, in contrast, Duke has overdrive gear on the top and the top gear is meant for cruising after achieving whatever possible RPM in the 5th gear. So, you need to choose based on your requirement. If you need more power low down and more of city and short tourer then, Duke may suit you, but if you are looking at a long distance tourer and a mile muncher, then its the Dominar. Happy shopping. Do let us know once you decide. KK | |
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2nd October 2017, 22:18 | #281 | |
Distinguished - BHPian | re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
Regarding the knocking, I suspect you changed gears too early. You could try being one gear lower. It could solve the "problem" you saw. | |
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2nd October 2017, 23:48 | #282 | ||
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
So, you are right. Safety should be top of the list. And typically, I don't take safety lightly. But, this test ride was tricky as everything came together in the last minute and I could not make all gear arrangements quickly. Incidentally, my first vehicle that I bought with my hard earned money was a Ducati Monster 750. I had it for all of 2 weeks before I had to part with it. Sad story. But, that was 17 years ago. The itch has never left me. Now, maybe, if my family allows me, I may once again hear the wind whistling in my ears. Quote:
Cheers | ||
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3rd October 2017, 00:07 | #283 | |
Distinguished - BHPian | re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
Either way, once we start riding any model, we soon know when to change gears. So this point should not be a problem at all. But things like heat from engine - especially in city driving will be a deal breaker for me. | |
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3rd October 2017, 00:53 | #284 | ||
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
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Talking about engine heat, I was so surprised that the Duke heated up so quickly. I came home to find plenty of material online pointing to this exact problem on the Duke for a while now. In fact, the problem is supposedly so severe that it is not uncommon to hear of Duke 390s seizing during our summers. The 2017 model is supposedly better in this regard because KTM apparently introduced a rev limiter that kicks in at a certain engine temperature to prevent the engine from heating further. I don't know how effective this is. But, I do know that my legs felt quite hot in a space of 20 minutes. So, if the 2017 bike I rode is the "better" version, then what were the previous years' models like? Yeah, no way I am plonking down cash for something that heats up this much this fast. On the other hand, I had extensively read up on the Dominar beforehand and was expecting to encounter the much maligned vibrations issue around 4 K. That's the reason why I was repeatedly peering at the tacho when I should have been watching the road instead. Thankfully, the vibes never came. At least, not in any noticeable fashion. So, it looks like Bajaj have licked this problem with their much publicized post-production ECU update. But, there is one other small matter on the Dominar that is giving me pause although I never encountered it during my test ride. Apparently, some people have had the issue where their bikes lose power even when their throttles are being held steady. That's scary when you think about it occurring in the middle of dense and steadily moving traffic. Anyways, the word on the street is that that same ECU remapping (for vibes) has solved this problem too. But, there's only way to find out for sure. Cheers Last edited by mohansrides : 3rd October 2017 at 01:14. | ||
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3rd October 2017, 06:46 | #285 | |
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| re: Ridden: Bajaj Dominar 400 Quote:
KK | |
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