As a Malaysian brand, motorcycle manufacturer Modenas has seen mixed fortunes over the decades. After a stellar introduction in the 90s, and capturing near on half the local motorcycle market in the under-250 cc category, the last five years or so saw the firm fall into the doldrums.
A recent resurgence, though, has seen Modenas launch not one, not two, but now, four new models. The latest addition to the stable is the 2018 Modenas Dominar 400, which is now at, for a limited time, an introductory price of RM14,615. That’s about half the price of a similarly-engined KTM Duke 390.
But, as a collaboration between Modenas and Indian manufacturer Bajaj, who also produced both the previous and current-generation KTM Duke 250 and 390, what is the Dominar like to ride on Malaysian roads? We have covered the Dominar 400 extensively in the past, including two previous test sessions.
The first was at a Malaysian media introduction at the Bajaj plant in India, and a special private test session to provide feedback to Modenas at the Unimap test track in Perlis. During both sessions, which were good enough to give us an idea of what the Dominar is like, something was missing.
That something was how the Dominar 400 would actually behave when subjected to real-world Malaysian riding conditions, in the none too gentle hands of a typical Malaysian rider. So, right after the launch of the Dominar 400, Anurag Sharma of Bajaj came up to the author and said, “I want you to ride the Dominar tomorrow, and I will be following. I want to get your feedback.”
Grabbing the keys for the Dominar 400 from the Modenas rep, we set out as a group of four riders, all local moto-journalists. We will gloss over the details of the Dominar 400, all of which can be found in the previous articles published on paultan.org and will focus on how this naked sports bike behaves on Malaysian roads.
The first thing the rider will notice about the Dominar is it is long. The wheelbase is 1,453 mm from axle-to-axle, and that is long for a naked sports.
This does pay dividends when it comes to highway cruising, with the Dominar 400 being stable at extra-legal highway speeds. Taking the Karak highway to our destination, the Dominar did the highway run well, with no hint of twitchiness dropping into high-speed corners.
When well-heeled over though, the rider needs to keep at constant throttle and not upset the delicate balance of things. While the Dominar is good in a straight line, when the going gets serious in a corner, the Dominar’s budget suspension can occasionally be a little lacking.
This is not the bike’s fault, it was designed and built to a budget, after all. The front having non-adjustable telescopic forks, and the rear adjustable only for pre-load, care needs to be taken selecting the corner entry and line at high speed.
At lower, surface street level, the Dominar 400 does the job well, soaking bumps and surface irregularities somewhat well, with only sharp, short bumps coming through, speed strips approaching intersections, for example. Bigger bumps are taken care of with no issues, though we did not have a chance to ride the Dominar 400 fully-loaded.
Coming into the twisties at Bukit Tinggi, the Dominar would take the corners in a reasonable fashion, ridden within its envelope. Taken out of its comfort zone into some sharp twists and turns, the Dominar showed its length, with steering taking some effort at the handlebars.
Doing the left-right-left transition at corners, the Dominar showed a reluctance to turn quickly, although it would change direction fast when held upright. This was a useful trait in avoidance manoeuvres on the street, and handling city traffic.
Bumbling around town in slow traffic, the Dominar behaved well, and showed no signs of being nervous or quick at the controls. In that environment and on the highway, the Dominar delivered what was asked, albeit in not too much of a rush.
While acceleration through the first three gears was sprightly, the Dominar ran out of puff in sixth. We found this out by bouncing off the rev limiter on the highway in top. If you’re expecting it to sail past well 160 km/h, you’d be disappointed.
Don’t get us wrong, the engine – a 373 cc triple-spark single-cylinder with 35 PS and 35 Nm derived from the KTM 390 mill – had power to spare. The gearing, though, was completely wrong for Malaysian highway use.
Coupled with the six-speed gearbox, we expected more from the Dominar 400. The problem is, as we found out during our high-speed run at the Bajaj test track, the bike is under-geared due to the dinner plate sized rear sprocket.
We were informed, during our visit to the Bajaj plant in India, that Indian riders don’t generally get to top speed and 145 km/h is considered fast. We pointed out Malaysian riders will wind the throttle out till the engine has nothing left to give.
Things being what they are, don’t write in complaining the Dominar is a failure. It isn’t, it just wasn’t designed for the specific riding conditions we have in Malaysia.
What it needs is more top speed, and to be put on something of a diet. The twin-spar frame holding the engine is commendably stiff, and is strong enough to cope with much more than the thumper could give.
But 182 kg is kind of heavy for a single-cylinder sports bike, though the extra weight does pay dividends in other circumstances like highway riding, as we mentioned earlier. All in all, the Dominar does deliver what it promised, that it is a good light-duty sports bike which can do highway distances.
In the area of rider accommodation, the Dominar was a comfortable perch. While not cut out for full-on cut-and-thrust riding, when settled into the seat – we don’t have an official seat height figure yet, but we hazard a guess at 810 mm – the rider has enough space to find a comfortable riding position.
Inside the cockpit, the monochrome LCD was clear enough to be legible, though we did have some issues reading the smaller numbers. Riders who do not wear bi-focals will not have this issue.
So, who needs a 2018 Bajaj Dominar 400, especially at that price of RM14,615? For the commuter on a budget, the Dominar is a no-brainer, quite capable of eating up 100 km plus distances in a single trip with zero issues.
In this segment, the KTM Duke 390 at RM28,800 – coming from the same factory in India – is direct competition, though much more hooligan in intent and with better handling to make up for its higher price point. BMW Motorrad has the G 310 R (RM26,900) and G 310 GS models (RM29,900), both of which will do what the Dominar does, but at twice the price.
For the young rider coming up from the kapchai class and looking at a real motorcycle, the Dominar is a bigger, more powerful selection compared to a quarter-litre machine, but bear in mind you do need a B full license to ride one. For the senior rider looking at an easy to handle machine to handle daily riding duties with the occasional long-distance trip, the Dominar is a logical choice.
the price is for limited time? may i know until when?
Go full throttle.
Sounds like a lousy bike even at that price. 400cc but can only reach 160km?! Shocking!
Those days the Yamaha tzm 150 could easily reach 180km.
Have we regressed that much with 4 strokers?
Hi Bernard, may i pls add info to your statements?
I believe it is half cooked.
TZM is a 2 stroke engine and have different power delivery. It is high performance and easy to exploit. 4 stroke is totally different league. It is the same principle as a normal car engine. U need alot of additional stuff to make it fast.
As the article said the sprocket was huge, IMHO it definitely sacrifice top speed.
Not about the CC, its the gearing and sprocket setting. Just like the smaller KTM Duke or RC, it has the most output but gearing is focussed towards torque.
You did read the article fully, right? This was designed for the Indian market first, their riding behavior is not same as Malaysian riders. The bike serve its purpose well for the price, please don’t look at top speed only as defining factor.
lousy reader with limited understanding as you are is even more shocking
Are you stupid are what? Dominar is a bloody 4 stroke not a 2 stroke like tzm
Both are also different categories and serve different people
You being seeing spouting nonsense for a while like you know jackshit about motorcycling at all
For that price and its cc (compared to ktm, bmw, etc), its a good bargain. Need more speed? Just change the sprocket size. Still not satisfied? Dont buy. There is always a market for everyone.
You are absolutely right Bernard and I am sure you know tons about bikes being a bike journalist for the last thirty years…
Whats illogical is drb doing a lazy job with this bike. Perhaps fixing stickers is the best that they can do. Cant even bothered to put on msian sprocket. No class company selling 3rd world bike. Wht a shame.
Probably they have sacked all the engineers in the Modenas R&D department. Not even changing the sprocket to suit malaysian market is too lazy.
You must hate modenas a lot reading from your comment Brrnard. Is it that bad? Is it really lousy? Or is it you having problem with modenas. For me coming from a medium income group would always welcome any choice with good price. Kudos to modenas for understanding that price is very important factor for future buyer with tight budget.
I might not agreed on bernard nonsense, but about modenas being modenas is quite right
It might be a rebadged exercises at least do something like doing with different gearing ratio or something
Not just blindly assembled according to what their new indian overlord says
Oh! Last time I checked all the Malaysian R&D and engineers team in Modenas are still working like usual. So, where in the world you got that information? Are you a haters or just a liar? Based on your comments you Benard are most likely a anti-everything-Malaysian-made, blinded by politics of hatred.
If they are working as usual why didn’t they do such a simple thing as to change the sprocket final drive to suit malaysian riders? R&D does not stand for Rehat & Duduk. Another thing Benard and Bernard is 2 different avatars.
Let’s not throw accusations without knowing the details. Who knows, maybe it was explicitly written in their agreement that there would/could be no changes to certain things, which included the sprockets.
There is more to riding a bike than speed. Like ride handling quality, suspension,safety,
torque when you need it and overall performance comfort of the bike over long distance riding. Riding at 180 or 200 kph is only for short sprint. Try riding tzm 150 from north to south at full speed. You will get your arse burn from the vibration. Speed kills.
I’m still wondering why above 250cc bikes we need a B Full License when stated there is B1 License available which is Below 500cc bikes. Like what’s the point of having B1 when you only can take either the B2 License OR the B Full License. Typical Malaysia.
There is no B1 license anymore since like ages.
Changing gear ratio or sprocket for new bike will make the manufacturer warranty void. This rule applies to all vehicle manufacturer regardless of the vehicle type.
If you want more speed buy and changed it yourself if don’t care about warranties.
Fyi.. Changing sprockets doesn’t affect warranty as they also doesn’t affect engine power output. Not to mention it’s a wear and tear.
fyi, this is straight re badged bike from Bajaj India by modenas. Can consider this as CBU model. So the quality is good. Try to read some review about the bike from india.
“We were informed, during our visit to the Bajaj plant in India, that Indian riders don’t generally get to top speed and 145 km/h is considered fast. We pointed out Malaysian riders will wind the throttle out till the engine has nothing left to give.
Things being what they are, don’t write in complaining the Dominar is a failure. It isn’t, it just wasn’t designed for the specific riding conditions we have in Malaysia.”
Dont worry, Just give a week to our mat rempit to figure out how to increase the top speed.
the only problem with this kind of bike is the realibility and the spareparts that is soo hard to get in shop. everything have to order and take weeks to get. i’d rather stick to yamaha or honda.. easy to get spareparts…
any such bike Dominar 400 in Sibu, Sarawak here?????
Go full throttle.
for the love of God, if Modenas R&R planning to make any changes to the bike, please dont. i repeat , DO NOT DO ANY MODIFICATION, if they have to, maybe just the front/rear spocket or stickers. the last time the try to “R&R” and came out some thing called GT128 is a disaster. the entire bike, which they quote R&R by modenas, is totally unreliable. everything other than the engine is badly design.
What is R&R… ? haaa haaa R&D la bro Research and Development…
Hi fellow riders,
I ride a Yamaha LC 135 and true enough, as Malaysian riders always do, I wind the throttle out till the engine has nothing left to give. That will give me a top speed of 150km/h. I had no problems riding bigger bikes, just that the time has not come yet to own one.
My question… is the 150km/h of an LC the same with 150km/h of Dominar? Means.. in terms of real calibrated speed. Eg. LC’s 100km/h might just equal to Dominar’s 80km/h.
Thanks.
Just use GPS meter, bruh
I’m from the 115 modenas ace team.