Brought home a Bajaj Dominar 400: Impressions after 2 months & 1500 kms

Coming from a Honda, the vibrations on this are definitely annoying, but I am getting used to it gradually.

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Brought home a Charcoal Black Dominar 400 in late May.

Buying experience:

I was looking to upgrade my Honda CBR 250R which has served me well for over 10 years. During my search, a friend recommended I look at the Dominar. Initially, I was only looking at the KTM Adventure 390 and the Interceptor. While the bikes are from different segments, I have always liked them. The Dominar was a late entrant in my search, but it slowly started to appeal to me.

Every showroom I went to whether it was KTM, Bajaj or RE, I was just faced with disappointment. There is something about salespeople not greeting you with a smile, giving you their attention, explaining their products in detail etc., that just irks me and I felt it was the same every where.

At Khivraj KTM, Indiranagar, I was greeted by a bored salesperson who did not try to explain anything about the Adventure nor was interested in making a sale. They did give me a test ride, but the bike was in bad shape.

At RE Avahan, near Kalyanagar, I walked around the showroom for 10 minutes looking at the salespeople have a laugh about something before being attended to and then just given a tablet saying you can look at the prices and customizations here. I was given a test ride of the Interceptor, and found some issues with the posture that made me rethink the bike.

At Khivraj Bajaj Indiranagar, I was told I would be given a test ride - was made to wait 20 mins - then told that there are no test ride vehicles and they would arrange one over the weekend. What annoyed me the most about the experience here was receiving a call in a couple of days and the lady over the phone asking me to share with her the feedback link that Bajaj shares with the customer. I found it unethical and decided to look for another showroom even though this was within 3km of my house.

Finally, went to Popular Bajaj, Koramangala as I had not yet tested a Dominar. It was a decent experience. Rode a new test ride bike and enjoyed it. Then it was a matter of mind over heart - while my heart still said KTM Adventure, my pocket preferred the Dominar. And I booked it within a day.

The overall experience with Popular Bajaj was decent. Got the bike within a week. Although, even after two months I am still waiting to receive my RC card as the HSRP details were uploaded really late, only after I followed up. I may have to go to the RTO myself to hopefully get a copy if it is printed.

First service experience:

I finished my first 500 kms in a week's time and took the bike to Khivraj Bajaj, Indiranagar, Bangalore, as it was close to home. The experience was mixed. While the SA was receptive and amicable, there was a sense that they were just trying to get the bikes out in record time (which was expected). While I usually prefer staying at the service centre and monitoring the service, I was told that they had around 15 Dominars already in line for service and it would take a long time before they got to mine. This was at 9.00 am.

At 12.50 pm, I get a call from the billing department stating that my bike is ready and to come and pick it up immediately. So I head there, only to be told that it is the lunch break and my bike wash / 3M polish that they do is not yet completed. Even at the billing department, I was told that it was the lunch break and when I stated that I had been told to come and pick it up, the person reluctantly finished my billing. After that it was a long wait, till nearly 2.30 pm to finally get my bike. In that time, I also saw the conditions in which a relatively young boy was using some sort of air-powered gun to apply the 3M polish. Found it suffocating to stay there for just 30 mins, I am not sure how they would doing it the whole day. Disappointed after witnessing this as well, I have decided to not go back to this service centre.]

Two-month review:

After completing about two months and 1500km on the bike, it's a love-hate relationship with the bike, but I think it is slowly growing on me. Coming from a Honda, the vibrations on this are definitely annoying, but I am getting used to it gradually. Low-speed tractability in traffic is great, but you do have to get used to the weight of the bike. On the highway, it does feel solid at speed, but again the vibrations at certain RPMs do get in the way of an enjoyable experience. I hope that the bike gets smoother with time, as I am still in the running-in period.

The headlights are really good, and so is the rider's seat. Pillion seat I have been told is not very comfortable over a long period of time and that is fine since I mostly tour alone. I find the secondary display quite useless because of the position and just wish Bajaj updated the software to make ODO and Trips available on the main display. Especially on highways it is quite irritating to look down to get a ODO/Trip reading.

While it feels like I've stated several cons, I do enjoy riding the bike, the power and grunt it has to offer. The bike is growing on me every day.

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