Hello Zigwheelers, This is my first post in zigwheels. (Excited and happy). . This is regarding an issue i found with the bike i recently bought- Bajaj Dominar 400.
So, I took the delivery of the vehicle on 30th of Jan 2017. I went for midnight blue color variant. Looks are killers. The gloss finish really make the heads turn. Especially, the part of the bike from the driver's seat till the headlight is real attraction. The rear is so-so. Head lights needs special mention. The LED headlights really does their job well both in performance and looks. God knows how many times i was told to turn the headlights off by others, and I was completely helpless to tell that they are always ON. I did around 250 kilometers on first two days maintaining a speed between 70-80 and occasionally going till 90 , but still maintaining the rpm under 5k as suggested by the dealers.
The next day i wanted to check the real raw power of the bike and decided to go beyond 90 kph. I crossed the 90 barrier, going linearly. 91, 92, 93..... Drop of power. The RPM indicator hit 5.5k and fell back to 5k and speed fell to 85 kph. Couldn't figure out what just happened? I dismissed it off and gave it another try. 91,92, 93, 94.. drop of power. Oh my god!! I cant believe it. Why is there a choking of engine at 90 kph. Is it by default or is there a defect in my vehicle? I just couldn't understand. However, I answered myself saying that it is still too early to come to any conclusion and hoped that this will be resolved during the first service. Before i give the vehicle for service , I wanted to try again to see if still the problem existed. I checked it thrice and all those times i could see the power drop. Issue confirmed.
Next day, took the vehicle to the service center as the little wrench lit up in the primary screen mentioning that the vehicle needs to be serviced. Reported the issue i faced and mechanics assured that it will be resolved. I have even asked them if any one else reported this issue to which they said none. My worry levels shot up. The mechanic drove the bike himself and he noticed the power drop too. He said he will look into it. I gave the vehicle for service on 2nd of Feb and mechanics unfortunately couldn't the issue by the end of the day. I had to take the bike as i had few commitments on it and said that i will drop the bike tomorrow at the service center so that they can look into it more leisurely. I dropped the bike again on 3rd of Feb and waited whole day to get the issue diagnosed. The mechanic is taking it for a ride for every hour and returning back saying the issue is not yet resolved every time he returned back. He asked me to leave the bike so that they can have a closer look. So, I left the service center without any idea of the problem.
Waited whole Saturday and Monday( Sunday being holiday) to get a call from the mechanic which i never received. Frustrated, i visited the service center to inquire about it. His response shocked me. He said that there is no issue with the bike at all. Are you kidding me?. When he rode the bike for the first time, he could have told the same. I wasn't convinced. I can understand that there might be initial inertia of the engine that makes your bike little sluggish but chocking of the engine. It's a big no-no. I was angry. Went to the sales manager and complained on the same. He assured me that they have been intimated of the issue and even the Pune engineers are notified on it and they are working to resolve the issue and with in two days I will get a call back from them. It calmed me a little and expecting a call /email from them after two days, I left taking the bike with me.
I wrote an email to bajaj customer care,called them, called the regional after sales manager. There were multiple calls made to various persons to make sure this is resolved. Two days later, having not received any email or call from sales/service or Bajaj , i contacted few lawyers to proceed legally ( ) if Bajaj doesn't give me correct response. Later that night , I received an SMS from regional sales manager to meet him on Friday the 10th of Feb. During all these days I haven't even tried to go beyond 90 kph in fear or risk ,whatever you may call.
So, i went in to meet him at the service center, expecting the root cause to be found out and resolving it by changing a part. Instead, i was seated and manager did all the sweet talk asking what I liked about the bike and what i didn't. I explained everything and meanwhile the mechanic took the vehicle for a ride. During the conversation, i never heard the words 'Defect', 'replacement' from the manager which i expected rather i heard 'initial' , 'running in period'. It became clear to me. These guys haven't even worked on the issue. Goddammit!! How couldn't they? Don't they have any empathy towards customers? My anger started to raise a bit, but kept it way under control. He then asked me how many kilometers were clocked for which i said it is now 800. He suggested me to go for a test drive to check if the issue is still present. i gladly obliged and was getting myself ready to blast these guys if the issue wasn't resolved.
There i was getting ready to test it. Choose a lane which is empty for few minutes due to traffic signals, i revved up the engine. 90,91,92,93.. I was expecting a power drop. However, the engine continued. 94,95,96.....105. No chocking/power drop what so ever. Is it for real? Went for second test ride. 90..100.105.110.. Nope. Not even slightest sign. Seriously!! All right. Let's do one more. 90.100.110.120.129..Oof!! No chocking again. Did the mechanic tweak anything when he took for a ride. I was happy but more than that i was surprised. Because the problem got AUTO RESOLVED. No tweaking, no change of parts. Just the way it was.
So, to the guys who are going for this bike there, this is an absolute beast. The pickup is monstrous. Low torque ride is awesome which should make it ideal for city rides too. True, i was disappointed for that period where my bike had issues after 90. But, knowing that it is due to initial wear of engine makes me feel comfortable and happy. Besides, when by standers check the vehicle in awe and admiration makes me as proud as hell.
If you guys notice this issue in your bike, please note that there is no reason to worry and it gets resolved by itself after few kilometers and do reply in this post if you have faced this issue.
Dominate the night. Peace out.
My dealers: Jai Bajaj, Adyar, Chennai.
So, I took the delivery of the vehicle on 30th of Jan 2017. I went for midnight blue color variant. Looks are killers. The gloss finish really make the heads turn. Especially, the part of the bike from the driver's seat till the headlight is real attraction. The rear is so-so. Head lights needs special mention. The LED headlights really does their job well both in performance and looks. God knows how many times i was told to turn the headlights off by others, and I was completely helpless to tell that they are always ON. I did around 250 kilometers on first two days maintaining a speed between 70-80 and occasionally going till 90 , but still maintaining the rpm under 5k as suggested by the dealers.
The next day i wanted to check the real raw power of the bike and decided to go beyond 90 kph. I crossed the 90 barrier, going linearly. 91, 92, 93..... Drop of power. The RPM indicator hit 5.5k and fell back to 5k and speed fell to 85 kph. Couldn't figure out what just happened? I dismissed it off and gave it another try. 91,92, 93, 94.. drop of power. Oh my god!! I cant believe it. Why is there a choking of engine at 90 kph. Is it by default or is there a defect in my vehicle? I just couldn't understand. However, I answered myself saying that it is still too early to come to any conclusion and hoped that this will be resolved during the first service. Before i give the vehicle for service , I wanted to try again to see if still the problem existed. I checked it thrice and all those times i could see the power drop. Issue confirmed.
Next day, took the vehicle to the service center as the little wrench lit up in the primary screen mentioning that the vehicle needs to be serviced. Reported the issue i faced and mechanics assured that it will be resolved. I have even asked them if any one else reported this issue to which they said none. My worry levels shot up. The mechanic drove the bike himself and he noticed the power drop too. He said he will look into it. I gave the vehicle for service on 2nd of Feb and mechanics unfortunately couldn't the issue by the end of the day. I had to take the bike as i had few commitments on it and said that i will drop the bike tomorrow at the service center so that they can look into it more leisurely. I dropped the bike again on 3rd of Feb and waited whole day to get the issue diagnosed. The mechanic is taking it for a ride for every hour and returning back saying the issue is not yet resolved every time he returned back. He asked me to leave the bike so that they can have a closer look. So, I left the service center without any idea of the problem.
Waited whole Saturday and Monday( Sunday being holiday) to get a call from the mechanic which i never received. Frustrated, i visited the service center to inquire about it. His response shocked me. He said that there is no issue with the bike at all. Are you kidding me?. When he rode the bike for the first time, he could have told the same. I wasn't convinced. I can understand that there might be initial inertia of the engine that makes your bike little sluggish but chocking of the engine. It's a big no-no. I was angry. Went to the sales manager and complained on the same. He assured me that they have been intimated of the issue and even the Pune engineers are notified on it and they are working to resolve the issue and with in two days I will get a call back from them. It calmed me a little and expecting a call /email from them after two days, I left taking the bike with me.
I wrote an email to bajaj customer care,called them, called the regional after sales manager. There were multiple calls made to various persons to make sure this is resolved. Two days later, having not received any email or call from sales/service or Bajaj , i contacted few lawyers to proceed legally ( ) if Bajaj doesn't give me correct response. Later that night , I received an SMS from regional sales manager to meet him on Friday the 10th of Feb. During all these days I haven't even tried to go beyond 90 kph in fear or risk ,whatever you may call.
So, i went in to meet him at the service center, expecting the root cause to be found out and resolving it by changing a part. Instead, i was seated and manager did all the sweet talk asking what I liked about the bike and what i didn't. I explained everything and meanwhile the mechanic took the vehicle for a ride. During the conversation, i never heard the words 'Defect', 'replacement' from the manager which i expected rather i heard 'initial' , 'running in period'. It became clear to me. These guys haven't even worked on the issue. Goddammit!! How couldn't they? Don't they have any empathy towards customers? My anger started to raise a bit, but kept it way under control. He then asked me how many kilometers were clocked for which i said it is now 800. He suggested me to go for a test drive to check if the issue is still present. i gladly obliged and was getting myself ready to blast these guys if the issue wasn't resolved.
There i was getting ready to test it. Choose a lane which is empty for few minutes due to traffic signals, i revved up the engine. 90,91,92,93.. I was expecting a power drop. However, the engine continued. 94,95,96.....105. No chocking/power drop what so ever. Is it for real? Went for second test ride. 90..100.105.110.. Nope. Not even slightest sign. Seriously!! All right. Let's do one more. 90.100.110.120.129..Oof!! No chocking again. Did the mechanic tweak anything when he took for a ride. I was happy but more than that i was surprised. Because the problem got AUTO RESOLVED. No tweaking, no change of parts. Just the way it was.
So, to the guys who are going for this bike there, this is an absolute beast. The pickup is monstrous. Low torque ride is awesome which should make it ideal for city rides too. True, i was disappointed for that period where my bike had issues after 90. But, knowing that it is due to initial wear of engine makes me feel comfortable and happy. Besides, when by standers check the vehicle in awe and admiration makes me as proud as hell.
If you guys notice this issue in your bike, please note that there is no reason to worry and it gets resolved by itself after few kilometers and do reply in this post if you have faced this issue.
Dominate the night. Peace out.
My dealers: Jai Bajaj, Adyar, Chennai.
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