It is difficult, living in South Africa and exposed to a manufacturer’s products solely through their use as much-derided delivery bikes, to fully understand the importance of that manufacturer in global motorcycling.
Bajaj Auto is the world’s third-largest motorcycle manufacturer, the second-largest in India, with around 30% of the domestic market, and is the world’s most valuable two-wheeler company. Put another way, in 2019, Indian motorcycle manufacturers exported 2.9 million two-wheelers, which is impressive, but pales into insignificance when you realise that figure represents only 17.5% of total sales, the vast majority in India itself.
Make no mistake, Bajaj Auto, with its slice of that market, is hugely important, thanks to its majority shareholding in KTM.
Until recently, the SA range has solely comprised the 150cc Boxer, in delivery-bike form, complete with a huge top box. It’s a sturdy machine, with no frills, but acceptable performance and excellent build quality. You will also be familiar with the diminutive – and very yellow! – Qute four-wheeler, as used by Bolt taxis.
All well and good; here’s a manufacturer that understands its place in the motorcycling scene in SA and is sticking to what it does best.
Well, maybe not. The Bajaj Dominar 400 has been around in limited numbers in SA since at least 2019, but even though we published a test of the model back then, it seems timely to revisit the model, given the increasing importance to the local market of sub-500cc models, not to mention the fact that Bajaj SA is now importing the model officially.
The origins of the model are obvious; with Bajaj Auto building the KTM 390 models, it makes sense that Bajaj, having access to the engine, created its own 400cc model. At first, the model was equipped with a single overhead camshaft version of the DOHC KTM 390 engine, but this has since been uprated to a DOHC configuration for the current Dominar model. Power output is similar, at 40bhp, against 44 for the KTM, and torque remains the same, at 35Nm.
That’s where the similarities stop. The Dominar has an aluminium beam perimeter frame in place of the KTM’s signature tubular frame. Whether this gives any more stiffness is rather academic, as with relatively little power, the engine is never going to challenge the rigidity of the frame. But it does give the Dominar a completely different look from the KTM.
It’s not an unattractive motorcycle, especially in the matte black finish of the test model. Alloy wheels, chunky upside-down forks, ByBre brake callipers, small screen and a digital dash, supplemented by a small secondary digital readout on the tank top, with traction control and ABS completing the specification.
One odd feature is a vestigial ‘sissy bar’ for the pillion, which may, depending on the size of the pillion him- or herself, might be rather uncomfortable. But the rear carrier, suitable for fixing a top box, is useful.
Happily, it shares all the general qualities of the 390 KTMs, especially the 390 Duke, which it most closely resembles. The riding position is comfortable and certainly not cramped for taller riders, while the seat height is low enough for shorter riders. You sit ‘in’ the bike, thanks to the low seat and high curved tank top, which helps with a feeling of security on the road. The reach to the ‘bars is natural and gives a slight forward tilt to the upper body.
The test bike had very low mileage, and I was told that, after 2,000km, the engine would free up and the ECU brain would allow the engine to produce a bit more power. Not that it felt underpowered in any sense; acceleration was excellent for city riding, and it would cruise happily on the highway at well over the legal limit without feeling stressed. The smoothness of this single-cylinder engine is uncanny, forcing me to, at first, check that a parallel twin hadn’t quietly been installed; the wonders of modern balancer-shaft technology.
After a couple of weeks’ acquaintance, I found it hard to understand how I would need anything more in the way of performance for daily riding, even if it included frequent highway miles. Likewise, the suspension inspired nothing but confidence, and the same can be said for the brakes. If they lacked initial bite and had a slightly wooden feeling, they certainly never gave any cause for concern in emergency braking situations and gave no concerns in general everyday use.
It would be fair to say that the Dominar 400 isn’t necessarily a bike to raise the heart rate, but neither is it a bike to dismiss out of hand. It feels well-built and solid, and, at R89,950, is priced right to provide serious competition to other players in the market, from the likes of Triumph, Kawasaki, CFMOTO and, yes, KTM. We are being forced to reconsider products from anywhere other than the traditional centres of motorcycles production – Europe and Japan – and, while there might still be resistance to Chinese-sourced motorcycles, thanks to their relatively recent entry into the global two-wheeled market (with a few notable exceptions, such as CFMOTO), India’s motorcycle industry is well-established and, if the production figures are anything to go by, they have got the engineering absolutely bang-on.
Reliability shouldn’t be an issue; after all, you don’t build millions of motorcycles every year without getting a handle on reliability. The only concern I can foresee is acceptance of the Bajaj name by the frequently fickle South African consumer, for whom status and the security of a ‘name’ appear to be more important than practicality or price.
Motorcycling is a passion-driven pastime, so it feels strange to encourage consumers to put passion to one side and consider practicality and price – put head over heart, in other words – but the fact is, should we be able to do that, we will discover that it is possible to be budget-minded and also enjoy fun and interesting riding. The rest of the world seems to be able to do just that, so we surely can?
The Bajaj Dominar 400 is certainly not a budget product, despite the price. It is in every way as good as its rivals and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath and considered as a very real alternative to the established (in this country, at least) brands.
Bajaj Dominar 400
For more information on the bike that we tested in this article, click on the link below…
