Norton Dominator: All You Need To Know

Here’s what Norton’s performance-packed yet retro-looking roadster packs

TVS recently acquired ailing British bikemaker Norton Motorcycles. The company is well known for its neo-retro motorcycles: the Dominator and the Commando. Let’s see what the Dominator is all about:

Powertrain:

The Norton Dominator is powered by an in-house developed 961cc parallel twin air-cooled engine with an oil cooler. It develops 80PS at 6500rpm and 90Nm at 5200rpm. In an old-school way, the engine is pushrod actuated but with four valves per cylinder. It works alongside a 5-speed transmission. 

There’s no fancy electronics either, apart from a dual-channel ABS offered as standard. This engine is BS4-compliant at the moment and under TVS’ leadership, the brand plans to upgrade it soon to Euro 5/BS6 emission norms so that its sales can be resumed in the country.

Underpinnings:

The Dominator’s engine nestles inside a double cradle frame. It is suspended on a properly modern 43mm Ohlins inverted fork that’s adjustable for preload, rebound and even compression damping. The rear end employs an Ohlins monoshock with remote reservoir. It comes with ride height, preload and compression adjustment. 

The motorcycle comes to a halt using an equally sophisticated twin 320mm twin Brembo discs with radially mounted Brembo monobloc callipers and a 245mm Brembo disc at the rear with a twin-piston Brembo caliper. For an authentic feel, the bike rolls on spoke wheels wrapped with 120-section front and 180-section rear tyre.

Design & Features:

The Norton Dominator looks the part of a quintessential cafe racer complete with a circular headlamp with a little flyscreen on top and hand-welded clip-on handlebars for an aggressive riding posture. The motorcycle’s sporty intent is evident on the thinly cushioned rider’s seat, lack of a pillion seat (it’s available as an option, though) and minimalist body panels. 

As far as features are concerned, it comes with a traditional halogen headlamp and bulb type indicators. The tail lamp is LED, though. The instrument cluster is a twin-pod analogue unit with a digital inset in one of the pods. 

Pricing & Rivals:

The Norton Dominator was priced at Rs 23.7 lakh (ex-showroom) in India and was sold via the CBU route. However, with the new management and the advent of stricter emission norms, the bike is not available at the moment. Expect Norton to bring the BS6 compliant version by this year, if we’re lucky. As far as the competition is concerned, it goes up against other neo-retro motorcycles like the Triumph Thruxton R and the BMW R NineT.