2019 Bajaj Dominar 400 Spied

The Dominar 400 hasn't exactly been working as well for Bajaj as the company had hoped for. Despite being loaded with features and priced competitively at Rs 1.62 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the ABS variant, it hasn't been able to catch up to Royal Enfield’s Thunderbird 350, its prime competitor. To put things into perspective, Bajaj sold 1381 units of the Dominar in July, as compared to 6154 units of the Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350 in the same period.

The Pune-based manufacturer has planned a much needed update for the Dominar 400, which is likely to go on sale in the first quarter of 2019. We are yet to get a word on this from Bajaj. However, spy images on the internet suggest reveal some details.

Currently, the motorcycle is powered by a 373.3cc single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine, which produces 35PS of power and 35Nm of torque, mated to a 6-speed gearbox. Considering the 2020 deadline, it might be updated for BS-VI norms.

The test version spotted showcases USD forks, which seems to have been derived from the KTMs, and thus, the 320mm disc has now been placed on the left. There’s also a new split exhaust canister and blacked out under-thigh support section of the fuel tank. And while the current Dominar sports golden rims, the test mule was running on blacked out alloys that resemble the ones on the first gen Dominar. Another small area worth noticing is that the colour combination on the front guard and the belly pan has got a slight revision.

If we had to guess, Bajaj has most likely sourced the USD forks from the KTM 250 Duke, to keep costs in check, which should hike the price by around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. But if the company does plan to go ahead with the open cartridge forks seen on the 390 Duke, then expect the prices to bump up by quite a margin above the expected mark.

We also expect most of the features from KTM’s smaller bikes to be carried over to the 2019 Dominar 400, including ride-by-wire technology and DOHC. However, this can only be confirmed when Bajaj officially launches the motorcycle.

Will this help the Dominar get an upper hand on sales over the Royal Enfield? Is it something only time could tell.

Image credits - Rushlane