The Dominar 400 is tempting; But what kind of bike is it? We explain

It really took Bajaj a long time to turn the concept model of Pulsar CS 400 into a reality. Now that the motorcycle is finally here in the form of the Dominar 400, and with an attractive price tag, it has opened up the competition quite a bit. There has been a lot of talk about the Dominar 400 and its competitors in the market but there is no clear indication about the motorcycle’s segment. Let’s find out what kind of motorcycle the latest Bajaj is.

What is it? A Sports Cruiser

The Bajaj Dominar is not the sleekest looking motorcycle. It comes with a bulky body, low-slung seat, single-piece handlebar which provides upright seating posture. All these characteristics make it a long distance tourer. On the other hand, there are few other characteristics like aggressive design elements on the tank, headlamp casing, and stylish alloy wheels, which put the motorcycle in the naked street motorcycle segment.

Bajaj has designed the motorcycle for people who want to go for the occasional long rides and wants to do daily commute on the same motorcycle. The Dominar gets the characteristics of a pure cruiser motorcycle while the design elements of the motorcycle make it feel like a sporty naked street motorcycle. The Dominar 400 is the best of both the world and we can all it a Sports Cruiser.

What are the other motorcycles in the same price segment?

The Dominar gets a highly attractive price tag of Rs. 1.36 lakh for the non-ABS version and Rs. 1.5 lakh for the ABS version. The Indian 2-wheeler market is slowly coming out of its age now and there are many motorcycles that are present in the same price segment in India regardless of the segment they belong from.

To start with, there is Bajaj RS200 priced at Rs. 1.16 lakh, while the KTM Duke 200 is priced at Rs. 1.44 lakh. From Royal Enfield, there are Classic 350 that comes with a sticker price of Rs. 1.31 lakh and the mighty Himalayan that is priced at Rs. 1.56 lakh. All said, the Dominar’s arch rival will be the Mahindra Mojo, which is priced at a whopping Rs. 1.70 lakh. All prices are ex-showroom Delhi.

Dominar’s target audience: Not Royal Enfield buyers

Even though Bajaj’s management has targeted the Royal Enfield brand with their latest launch. The Dominar belongs to a very different segment from Royal Enfield. The Dominar is a modern looking advanced motorcycle that is powered by a new-age engine. The Royal Enfield motorcycles, on the other hand, have a very vintage look to them. The engine themselves are of high capacity but are not efficient enough to churn out high power.

Clearly, people who want to buy a Royal Enfield Classic 350 will go for the motorcycle even without considering other brands or motorcycles. That being said, there are few people who planned to buy the Royal Enfield but will change the decision post the launch of the Dominar. The number, however, will be pretty small.

Seeing the placement of the Dominar according to the price, we think that the new Bajaj will eat into the sales of other models in the market. The Dominar 400 is expected to kill the Mahindra Mojo. This will be one motorcycle that will be affected very adversely. The Dominar 400 could also eat into the sales of KTM Duke 200 and Bajaj RS 200 because the customers will get a lot more power and equipment than these two motorcycles.

The Dominar also gets some high-tech features like the dual-channel ABS and slipper clutch. The same may attract few KTM 390 Duke buyers till the company launches the 2017 update of the 390 Duke.

Know all about the Bajaj Dominar here: Bajaj Dominar launched