Bajaj recently shocked everyone when they announced the pricing of their new flagship brand, Dominar. The prices of the bike start from INR 1.36lakhs and they have smartly placed the bike in the segment which has no direct rival and keeps option open for buyer of every segment. This is a compact touring bike which has mixed looks of a naked bike as well as of a touring bike and that is how it has been recently challenged by Yamaha FZ25. The bike has been launched with a price of INR 1.19Lakhs making it slightly cheaper than the Dominar and offering similar looks and features. Which one makes more sense is what this article is all about where we compare the new Japanese offering with the market shaking Dominar. Which one makes more sense and gives more value for your money? Let us find out.
Style and Body Dimensions
Both bike are naked bikes with the FZ25 being the latest one. The FZ25 surely continues the macho look of FZ series ahead along with modern styling elements such as LED headlamp with a low placed visor giving it an aggressive look. The overall appearance of this bike quite similar to the FZ-S because it shares many of its parts such as telescopic forks, fuel tank design, front fender, alloy wheels, split seat, grab rail and tyre hugger with its sibling. However, the bigger road presence, big silencer, LED tail lamp and taller rear profile tyre set this bike apart from its own sibling as well as from its rivals.
Engine Spec
This is the department where Dominar marches ahead of every possible competition in our market thanks to the KTM sourced powerful engine. It has a single cylinder, liquid-cooled, fuel injected 373cc, SOHC engine which has been specially tuned by Bajaj to meet the proposed cruising abilities of this bike with incorporation of Triple spark technology. The bike produces a peak power and torque output of around 35bhp and 35Nm@6500rpm respectively. This results in a very strong low and mid range and that is probably what Bajaj wanted to achieve as their positioning of this bike demands it to be a relaxed cruiser than a performance bike.
The FZ25 has also been tuned with similar thought to give it a tourer nature instead of outright performance and its heavy torque output at early rpm and five-speed gearbox is a proof of it. The bike gets a brand new 249cc engine which has oil and air cooled set-up. The FZ25 has a SOHC, 4-Valve, fuel injected engine which is capable of churning out a peak power and torque output of 21 bhp and 20Nm@6000rpm respectively. The biggest USP of FZ25 is that it has the highest torque in class (200-250cc) at a very low rpm which should result in superior city performance and excellent highway riding without requirement of too many gearshifts since it’s only has a 5-speed gearbox which will have well spread torque across all range. The Dominar further gets equipped with slipper clutch and a 6-speed gearbox giving it an added cruise range which makes more sense of optimize consumption of power and torque while cruising at high speeds.
Features
Both bikes get modern tech as far as features are concerned but it seems like Bajaj just took things to the next level with Dominar. Both bikes get LED headlamp, tail lamps, fully digital instrument display, single handlebar, split grab rail, muscular fuel tank, etc. However, the Dominar gets an instrument panel which looks very practical, functional and premium with a small part of its placed on the fuel tank same as seen in bikes such as Ducati Diavel. The main display has digital speedometer, odometer, trip meter, time and tachometer while the tank display is for the tell tale lights. The Dominar also gets blue colored backlit switches on the handlebar and stylish alloy wheels.
Ride and Handling -Suspension and Brakes
Both bikes ride on 17-inch wheels with radial tyres equipped at both ends. The Dominar gets rear 150 section tyre while the FZ25 gets 140 section tyre to provide you enough grip on these bikes around corners and while going at fast speed. The added length of Dominar results in a nearly 107mm longer wheelbase of 1453mm in comparison to FZ25 which makes sure you get great high speed stability which gets even better with its 43mm telescopic forks at front with a dual spring mono-shock at the back. The FZ25 also gets similar suspension set-up at both ends including telescopic forks at front and mono-shock at the back.
The Dominar and FZ25 have a low ground clearance of 157mm and 160mm which may get affected by high speed breakers and big potholes on our Indian roads. The Dominar is the heavier of two as it weighs around 182kg which makes it nearly 34kg heavier than the FZ25 and both bikes have been equipped with disc brakes at both ends. The Dominar gets a bigger 320mm disc brake at front while the FZ25 gets 282mm disc brake at front. The Dominar gets a 230mm rear disc brake which is 10mm bigger than the disc brake of FZ25. The entry level variant of Dominar and FZ25 does not get ABS however the Dominar gets optional dual channel ABS but the FZ25 skips this feature even as an option to keep prices in check.
Verdict
Certainly, the Dominar comes out as a superior bike of two in terms of performance, features and usage of advanced technologies. The pricing of the non ABS variant is even more tempting for someone to own a 400cc bike equipped with all latest features, styling and offering adequate performance. So if you are not a fan of full fairing bikes and you are looking for a comfortable yet powerful performance bike then we will surely recommend you to go for the non ABS variant of Dominar which is only around Rs. 15,000 costlier than the FZ25 and offers you everything over FZ25 which easily justifies that added pricing. The FZ25 clearly looses out to Dominar in terms of road presence, power, features, bigger disc and technical elements such as the FZ25 gets an air and oil cool set-up while the Dominar gets a liquid-cooled set-up, additional 6th gear, slipper clutch and much more. So overall, it is the Dominar which we would recommend to you.