Dominator or yamaha xt350?!?

[finland dom]

Hi!

I joined this forum because I currently have a yamaha xt350 and whilst its nice and light and pretty quick it has been somewhat troublesome.

I have been offered a good deal in exchange for it against a 1990 nx650 dominator.

What do you all reckon? Is the dom better or should i stick with the xt?

Also if anyone has any ideas on what i should look out for when buying it would be greatly appreciated!

Its a 1990 with 40 tkm, rear tyre at least was knackered and i think the chain and sprockets were a bit tired but other than that it looked ok.

Any help would be great!

Thanks

gareth

[Confucious]

Welcome Gareth - I think you're going to get a rather biased opinion on this site...but, if you want some action - whether you're out riding the Dommie or it's parked in the garage - then the NX is the one for you. Where else would you get the technical help you need + load of piccies thrown in for those crappy jobs (it is free - but a small donation always helps the guys who pull the strings )? RubberChicken's camera flash has accelerated gobal warming, but makes life easier for us. The folks on here are the salt of the earth, and will help you out of most problems. I'm basically crepe at mechanics, but since joing XRV my garage is a dangerous place to be....flying spanners etc...

[Loomesy]

It depends what you want to do. the dommie is a great road bike, and not too bad on motorways either, should sit comfortably at 80mph all day, and its pretty bulletproof.
the xt would leave it for dead off roading cos its so much lighter and has a lot more plasic to break. the dommie does do off roading, just in a more cumbersome way.
hope this helps
Loomesy

[Von Short Hausen]

Oooooh, I had an XT350 once. Quite a nice little bike but I had to scrap it in the end. And the b*st*rd thing got revenge on me from beyond the grave as the garage hadn't done the paperwork that I thought they would and I copped an £80 SORN fine

I used to be a Yamaha fan and successively owned a DT125 - XT350 - XT600, but now I'm cured. Hooooray for Mr Honda.

My humble opinion....get the Dommie if it's in decent nick and the price is right.

[finland dom]

Hi!

Thanks for the feedback gents!

I rode the Dominator today albeit it briefly as it was p**sing down.

It seemed to run very well and it stopped properly too ( always a nice feature!).

The only issue i had is that i wasn´t able to put my feet down properly, I was all tippy toes! I am about 5ft11 and on my xt i can easily get both feet flat on the ground. Is this height likely to affect handling at all?

There were some after market stainless steel exhausts on it and it sounded awesome!! But dont want to attract too much attention

I will have to ride it again in the dry to get a better feel for it.

Is it fairly easy to maintain in general? I have found the xt to be somewhat complex as it has bucket shim followers and you need a special tool to adjust them. Also the twin/secondary carb system on it always needs looking at!

Anyway, thanks again.

gareth
p.s i am looking for someone to tell me I have to buy it so i can prove to the missus its not just some whim!!

[DSanson]

Owned a 1984 XT250T (4-valve and very similar to the XT350 - looks almost identical) for 4 years and a 1995 Dominator for 5 years. Covered approx 40 000km on the Yamaha and about the same on the Dommie. Both were used for the same purpose - commutting up to about 20km through city and A-roads. And touring through Southern Africa (XT and Dommie) and all over Europe (Dommie)

At 60 000km the XT had been rebored 2 times, cylinder head rewelded after cracking, fuel pump replaced, bent 2 valves, speedo cable replaced twice, battery replaced etc. - this list goes on and on.

At 50 000km, apart from maintenance items, the only issue was one loose screw on an aftermarket cross bar (on the handlebars). Two turns on an allen key and it was sorted. I would not be surprised if it went another 50 000km comfortably.

Apart from build quality and reliability the Dommie also has an electric foot, is better on A-roads and can carry luggage.

The XT is marginally better off road by virtue of its size, but the suspension is quite soft and the engine needs revs. I also remember the cog that drives the oil pump is make of soft plastic. When this wears oil stops pumping and engine seizes. Normally after about 40 000km.

If the Dommie is in reasonable condition and the oil changed like clockwork go for it.

[finland dom]

Ah ha!

I bought the Dominator! the bike shop cracked and called me to accept my offer so I HAD to do it!

Picked the bike up yesterday and had a short spin out and all seems well!

It does not seem to like to pull cleanly below 2500 rpm but i guess thats not a major issue? It judders and shakes but as soon as 3500rpm comes up its great.

Other than that so far all seems well... i will of course give it a service and check it over and hopefully it will last a while longer than the xt!

Anyway...thanks for all the advice guys!

Gareth

[DSanson]

Lack of pull below 2500 is normal. Its a big single. You need to keep the revs above 3000.

Just one last thing - change the oil regularly (every 2-3000 km) and make sure it is always topped up (although it can sometimes be difficult to read the oil level)

The engine is supposed to use a little oil on extended high speed runs (120km/h+) so just keep topping up if required.

[finland dom]

i did a bit of work on the dom today:

New plug
cleaned air filter
cleaned carb out
adjusted chain ( although i still have to replace it)

now it idles at 1500 steady as rock and pulls alot better below 3000 rpm.

Its so much smoother now! AND i managed 140 kph quite easily. je suis une happy, fast bunny!

I was driving along the dirt tracks through the Finnish forest, +30 degrees c and my open face helmet! Great stuff!

Thanks for your comments guys!

Gareth