Some background
I bought this bike backwards, so to speak. This is probably an ideal post-DAS bike, and the CBR600FV I bought after my DAS probably wasn't.
By some miracle, I'd managed to avoid death or serious injury for the two years I had the CBR6, so I started to think about what kind of bike I really needed, rather than what looked cool.
Influencing my decision was a daily commute of 30 miles, all year round, shite roads (Edinburgh has some of the worst in the UK...), but also a desire to get something that could still be used for weekend blasts and camping trips.
I'd always fancied a big single, originally the BMW F650, so I read a few reviews, posted a couple of questions on ukrm, and went for a test ride at my local dealer's.
What a hoot ! The bike is so tall compared to a sportster. You can see for about 20 miles in any direction, and you feel positively omniscient. The all-round visibility lets you read the road like nothing else, and once you get used to the upright riding position and the sheer height of the beast, this is a real advantage for urban riding.
In town, the bike is just *made* for truly cuntish filtering. It's narrow, it's tall, it's imposing, and the gearing and power delivery make it very stable and controllable at low speed.
You feel like you can physically shoulder traffic out of the way with it. The height of the bike means that you are clear of car mirrors and can make "good progress" in rush-hour traffic (transit vans are a different matter though - they're at exactly the same height as the bike, and the bike's brush guards will soon pick up a few war wounds from altercations with White Van Man).
The first serious challenge for the Dommie was a two-up camping trip, in March, to Glencoe. That's the Glencoe in Scotland, so of course it was pissing rain and sleet for the whole trip, with sub-zero temperatures in the glen overnight.
The seat is narrow, and quite hard. Long distances are not, repeat, not comfortable without regular stops to stretch the legs. This isn't really a problem, because the tank range is only about 110 miles to reserve.
Now two-up is do-able, but two-up with luggage is a challenge. There's no preload adjustment, so your suspension just gets less & less useful the more you load the bike, and the handling suffers accordingly.
Still, the bugger coped admirably in atrocious conditions.
Two and a bit years on...
The finish is pretty good : it's a Honda after all, but I run the bike all year and a few fasteners started to get quite corroded after two winters. Top tip - get a bucket of stainless steel fasteners and replace the worst-affected ones - sorted. I'm a bit more careful about waxing the bike for winter now, spokes especially.
It's durable, I'll give it that. There are only really two incidents of note - it went over on its side in high winds one day. Brake lever knackered, couple of light scrapes. 15 quid for the lever.
Then a glancing collision with a Scottish Gas van while filtering (I stayed on...). The van was fucked from the brake lever scraping all the way down the side, and the wing mirror was hanging off. The Dommie was undamaged. Score one to the boys on two wheels, and feck off round the corner before the dozy cunt notices the damage to his van.
The speedo gearing self-destructed at 12000 miles. Ninety of your earth pounds, just outside the warranty period. Tyre wear on the rear is a bit severe. 5000 miles for a Trailwing 42 on the back. Like all singles, it goes through chains & sprockets pretty fast - 11000 miles for the first replacement.
Some useful accessories and aftermarket bits
The Ventura rack allows you to bungee on arbitrary amounts of luggage. Pricey, but quality kit. Recommended.
MIG exhausts : "Not For Road Use". Ahahaha. God, these are funny. The bike pops, burbles and slaps like half a Ducati. I've considered going the whole hog and getting a Stage 1 Dyno kit for it, but I can't decide whether to just say "feck it", and buy a proper supermotard instead.
The Verdict
Brakes : passable. I could probably sort these with better pads and some braided hoses, but I've not bothered my arse yet to try this. It brakes well enough for the riding I do.
Handling : excellent. People laugh at you when you say this, but the bike is very planted, stable and really inspires confidence. The steering is obviously a bit slower with a 21 inch front, but it's accurate, and smooth.
Performance : for a single, it's fairly revvy. You can surprise even some sportsbike riders away from the lights, although it runs out of steam before too long.
It wheelies if you grab a big enough handful, but I'm a big wimp so I tend to keep both bits of rubber on the ground.
It's great in the twisties, on any kind of road surface you care to throw at it, but flat-out speed for extended periods is just a non-starter. Motorways are to be avoided at all costs on this bike.
Tyres of choice : Bridgestone Trailwing. Good grip all year round. The only conditions that stop me are serious ice, but the Trailwings cope admirably with everything else : a top tyre.
Maintainability : routine stuff is easy - everything is very accessible. The bike is about as technologically primitive as you'll find, so there are no big surprises.
Great bike, shame it never caught on in the UK. I'm told the continentals loved them, but they'll have to shop elsewhere in future, because the Dominator was discontinued in 2001, after a 12-year production run virtually unchanged.
I'm not selling it. I'll be getting another bike next year for runs and fun, but this will be my day-to-day bike until the bugger falls apart.
