Dominatorrrrr!! By Derek Hayden
Or rather Honda NX650 Dominator
Back in October last year (98) I decided that I needed a second bike, I was unhappy about using the VFR during the winter months, too much polycrackathene to smash and splinter. I started to look around to find a winter steed, a big "Traillie" style bike looked like it would fit the bill. After viewing several superficially smart, but mechanically unsound machines, and with the weather getting worse daily, my options were getting short. I was getting a little desperate, these kind of machine get snapped up around autumn time, for the very same reason I wanted one. I was browsing the local (East Anglia) yellow free ads paper and saw a Honda NX650, I wasn't really sure what that was and had to think long and hard before I realised it was a Dommie. I made arrangements to see the bike that day. It was a rather unusual dealers, they specialized in importing from the USA crash damaged bikes, and it was in Leiston near Sizewell, draw your own conclusions!!!. I didn't really know what to expect. When I entered the warehouse I met by an array of Motorcycles in various states. Some complete wrecks some no more than tumblyoffincarparkdamage. The dommie looked good, certainly better than some of the dogs I had seen. We struck a price and made the deal. It was almost 2 weeks later when I collected the bike, winter felt like it was well on the way. The moment I rode the bike away I knew I'd made a good decision, the Dommie is everything the VFR is not, the total antithesis in style, and performance. I had a 50mile-ride home and enjoyed every second of it, who needs shit hot performance or stand on your nose brakes, I was riding a big traillie bike and loving it. As I got to know the Dommie it was clear it had done some real off roading, although it had only done 11,000miles. It needed a little attention, the exhaust was leaking which was causing the exhaust to pop (very Loudly) on the overrun, which was a great asset in traffic, car drivers heard you coming and got out the way. I bought a flip up screen for the bike, and a Givi wing rack. The wing rack on my VFR was 10years old so the VFR got a new rack and the Dommie got the old one. The Givi/Dommie fitting kit left something to be desired, like a Quantum physicist to fit it, but once fitted worked well. The first real heavy frost of the winter almost proved too much for the designer "Cheng-Shin" tyres. I was lucky to stay upright. I very quickly got rid of these tyres and bought Bridgestone Trailwing tyres. Excellent!. After that it was fun, fun, fun. I took the Dommie off road on several occasions, as we have a number of "byeway used as public highway" type trails around the area. The Dommie had to be a real workhorse, as I was now working at least 2 days a week in Colchester, and the rest of the time in Cambridge, and as Dawn was now working in Thetford I was making all journeys on the Dommie. I suppose I have to say there were a couple of bad points, changing the Oil was messy as the engine and the frame had to be drained. This wasn't made any easier by the omission of a main stand. In fact any maintenance job was made just that little bit more difficult by what I consider the omission of a fundamental component. I had the chain snap on me one very cold and miserable night on the way home from Cambridge, and had to get relayed home by the RAC. That apart from an annoying tendency to stall when it was very cold was the only problem I really had with the bike. Then one fateful Sunday morning in february I was attending a course at a local school on Thetford, the bike was locked and parked under the gaze a security camera, so I felt it was quite safe. Lunchtime came and a took a stroll. It was one of those "Scratch your Head, where did I park my bike?" moments. It was gone!!! A review of the security video showed an individual walking up to the bike, breaking the steering lock and pushing it away. The Police later reviewed the tape but could not recognize who it was. On the other hand, a friend of mine who works at the school was able to get some of the kids to review the tape and they all recognized him as a Barry Goodwin, local tealeaf of anything not nailed to the floor. The Police have done nothing!. I have since received an offer of settlement from the Insurance so maybe I should use the money to pay a couple of thugs to break his legs!!
This has been an expensive exercise, although I got my money back for the bike, I lost the excess and some of my no claims bonus, plus the money I had spent on the bike.