Honda Dominator for touring

[jim lovell]

Would a Honda Dominator nx650 be good choice as a touring motorcycle?
Does anyone have experience of these bikes off road, in the ruff not just a gravel track?
And mainly are they reliable? worthy of an RTW bearing in mind im 6ft 2 and 17 stone ish.
I really need a cheap bike so i have more money to live on. I bought a DR 650 but the parts alone to rebuild the engine are £1000.

Any thoughts would be great ta Jim

[JonStobbs]

Hi Jim.
The Domi has 2 main downfalls as far as being a good travel steed, the seat and the fuel tank.
Seat is horribly uncomfortable for long periods of riding and being as you'll be spending a lot of time sitting on it this will really be a literal pain in the a@#e!
Fuel range is short with the standard tank as it's small in standard form. Not a huge problem in Europe but could be if going further afield. I think i remember something about Acerbis doing a larger version but i've also seen someone's home-brewed idea of welding 2 side-pods onto the front sides of theirs after drilling a few holes to allow the fuel to run into the main tank....AFTER SERIOUSLY FLUSHING IT OUT WITH WATER OF COURSE!!
Other than that Honda's reliability and parts availability (thanks to Dave Silver's) should mean that if you check it out before buying and look after it, it should certainly last.

For the same sort of money though you could be looking at a decent Italian import XL600LMF. All day long comfortable seat and HUGE tank...i get a range of around 400 miles fully laden, albeit not at a blistering pace (i like to look around lots when i'm traveling). If you do fancy one of these, the single, square headlamp H4 version is better as although the twin lamp front looks the biz they're actually only 35 watts and are pretty crap.

[Mick O'Malley]

Hi Jim

A search under NX650 showed over a thousand posts on the HUBB. I've always found my Doomie seat to be very comfortable. There's a forum on this web site

Regards, Mick

[jim lovell]

Thanks chaps, i shall do some more research, also i will take Jons advice and check out the xl. cheers Jim

[Mickey D]

We got the XL and NX series here in the states too. (since the 70's) Same motor and same basic bike. I put about 20,000 miles on my '87 XL600R. (Red Motor)
(this was the last year Honda brought in this bike)

I did two major Baja rides on the XL and lots of 3 and 4 days dual sport tours in and around California, Nevada. Generally speaking, reliable and fun! Goes anywhere.

The XL is a great road bike too. Fast and handles well. Decent brakes, suspension OK for road work. Once the dual carbs are set up right, airbox opened and with aftermarket pipe, my XL was fast, kick started easily, got about 48 mpg.

Suspension for off road needs help, especially the front forks, which are a bit spindly. (fork brace?) Heavier springs front & rear for travel.
Better seat would be nice but I rode mine between San Fran and L.A. (425 each way) about five times at least on the stock seat. Seat Needs Help, IMO.

Here are the issues to watch on the XL:

1. Never, EVER run it low on oil. This will pit the cam quickly, ruin top end.
This engine naturally uses a bit of oil at continuous high RPM. Keep it topped up!
2. The XL runs HOT so good quality modern synthetic oil is the way to go.
3. Battery. Never let the battery get low. I fried the stator because of this.
(new stator about $300 usd) The bike will run with a dead battery but Stator is over stressed and WILL FAIL. New, sealed battery is way to go.
4. Do not over load the rear sub frame. It WILL bend, then break. It's not very strong and off road pounding will bend it. 7 kg. limit.

If you want to get a good DR or KLR cheap, (highly recommended over the XL Dommie) come to US and buy your bike. Set it up and go RTW from there. Just saw an '09 DR650 with 1500 miles sell for $3500 usd. Brand new bike. KLR's are even cheaper.

I would not go RTW on a questionable beater. You'll end up spending most of your time stuck somewhere waiting for parts, burning through your stake. Start on a good, newish bike, ride and enjoy.