Royal Enfield gets royally stuck; Bajaj Dominar crosses obstacle effortlessly [Video]
Well, it looks like the Bajaj Dominar and Royal Enfield comparisons won’t end anytime soon. The flagship product from Bajaj is squarely targeted at the old-school REs, with Bajaj even openly challenging Royal Enfield motorcycles in a series of advertisements. Frankly, there’s enough going for both these motorcycles. However, here are a couple of videos that highlight the off-roading capabilities of the two motorcycles.
Both the videos have been shot at Off Road Adventure Zone (ORAZ), near Gurgaon. This is the same place where we conduct most of our off-road trials. It offers a series of obstacles that test the off-roading capability of a vehicle. The video we have above shows a Royal Enfield struggling on an incline. Finally, it manages to make its way out of the obstacle after being pushed out of it. The video then goes on to show the motorcycle struggling on other articulations. Soon, the rider of the Royal Enfield loses control and crashes. Clearly, the rider is unable to manage the weight of the motorcycle on the tough terrain. The video shows another RE that is struggling on an incline. Even this motorcycle has to be pushed out of the ditch.
In the second video, you can see a Bajaj Dominar effortlessly tackling the same set of obstacles. Unlike the REs, the Dominar doesn’t require any assistance on the inclines. It’s very clear that the motorcycle can tackle the off-road terrain much better than the Royal Enfield motorcycles. Here are few reasons for this –
Suspension – The Bajaj Dominar 400 comes with a better-tuned suspension. The Dominar can easily take to the rough terrain and deal with most of the obstacles. Even the Royal Enfield is sufficiently rugged off the beaten tarmac but here, in this video, it’s pretty apparent that the D400 has a better suspension in such usage conditions.
Tires – Both the motorcycles come factory-fitted with MRF rubber. However, the Dominar gets wider rubber. The Royal Enfield Classic 500 gets 90/90-spec tire at the front and 110/90-spec rubber at the rear. In comparison, the Dominar gets 110/70-spec rubber at the front and 150/60-spec tyre at the rear. The wider tires help the Dominar on challenging off-road courses. Moreover, the MRF Revz on the Dominar is grippier than the Nylogrips on the RE.
Lower frictional losses – If you compare the specifications, the Dominar 400 is clearly more powerful than the 500cc RE. This difference in power gets wider if you factor in the transmission losses. The Bajaj Dominar offers 27.5 bhp on the crank. More power comes in handy while dealing with tough obstacles. The second video on this page shows the Dominar effortlessly making its way through all the obstacles. In comparison, the 500cc Royal Enfield makes only about 19 bhp on the crank. There’s a higher transmission loss here. Hence, a lot of torque goes wasted.
Gearing – The Dominar gets shorter gearing, which is another factor that helps the Dominar on such off-road courses. Thanks to a shorter gearing, the Dominar easily powers its way out of the obstacles.
Video credits – Ride with Urus on Youtube
