Journey riders know that the extra your bike falls over, the much less you are concerned about your bike falling over. It’s an important philosophy when you plan to take your bike into the tough stuff. And it’s the rationale that the gas tank on this Honda NX650 Dominator is filled with dings.
The Dominator belongs to Tristan Dewey, a movie and tv composer and sound engineer primarily based in Bend Of Islands, a rural space simply exterior Melbourne, Australia. He’s been an avid reader of Bike EXIF for eight years now and figured it was time to construct a {custom} scrambler of his personal. However Tristan’s Dominator is not any present pony—he’s constructed it as a bonafide journey bike.
“It was impressed by my childhood pet goat, ‘Rumba,’ that might climb the un-climbable,” Tristan tells us. “I constructed it for my native hills—designed to be jumped, bumped, dropped, and sometimes buried in mud.”
“The aesthetic was influenced by the outdated dented Honda 175 gas tank, gifted by buddy, Evan Lordan. It provides the rider permission to drop the bike in troublesome terrain and benefit from the second whereas including one other story to the bike’s historical past.”
With no workshop or shed at his disposal, Tristan began the construct on the again of an outdated Bedford RL truck. He had restricted instruments at his disposal, but he managed to do every thing on the 1996-model Honda NX650 Dominator himself, outsourcing solely the lacing of the brand new rims. “It’s been a tough and prepared journey with a lot of mods alongside the way in which,” he quips.
The work began with a full tear-down in order that every thing could possibly be cleaned up and powder-coated earlier than being reassembled. Tristan rebuilt the motor with a brand new Wiseco piston, whereas Electrosil in Greensborough honed the cylinder.
Tristan additionally put in a Magura hydraulic clutch and a Mikuni TM-42 Carb. There’s no airbox—as a substitute, Tristan alternates between a ‘common’ pod filter and an oiled foam filter, relying on how gnarly the situations are. Decrease down you’ll discover an upgraded oil cooler, courtesy of Sutton Cycleworks in Arizona.
The chrome steel headers are Tristan’s handiwork too, and terminate in a Supertrapp muffler. “It was my first try at welding stainless with a really fundamental TIG welder,” he says. “Removed from good, however true to the character of this bush-built bike.”
Regardless of the rough-hewn nature of the bike, it sports activities a number of tidy mods. Tristan rewired the bike round a Motogadget controller, then stashed the necessary bits in a hinged electronics tray that sits beneath the seat. The regulator/rectifier is mounted additional again, with prolonged bolts that maintain a detachable license plate bracket.
Stashed contained in the under-seat field is the bike’s new CDI and a Lithium-ion battery. There’s LED lighting throughout, with custom-made brackets conserving the headlight and entrance flip alerts in place. The cockpit sports activities Magura handlebars, a Motogadget speedo and switches, and Oxford heated grips for these late-afternoon rides house.
Up entrance, you’ll additionally discover a pair of burly hand guards with fold-out mirrors, and an aluminum fender that Tristan rolled on a small (and low cost) English wheel. The waterproof canvas software roll that sits above the headlight carries “each software wanted to restore the bike out within the bush.” A Rotopax gas cell mounts to a {custom} bracket out again, in order that Tristan doesn’t have to chop his journey jaunts brief.
Different upgrades embrace new brake discs, Pivot Pegz foot pegs, and an oil filler cap with a built-in temperature gauge. Jeremy at John Titman Racing laced the inventory hubs to new Excel rims with heavy-duty spokes, whereas Tristan swapped the unique shock out for a Honda XR600 unit.
The gas tank is adorned with new replica Honda badges, and the {custom} seat is upholstered in kangaroo leather-based. However there’s no paint job as such—as a substitute, Tristan’s been using it onerous, dressing the gas tank in additional scars than it got here with.
“It’s been dropped and bits have snapped off,” he says. “Nevertheless it’s at all times made it house from each highway and roadless journey it’s been on.”
Tristan thanks Jas at Jax Storage and Jeff at Revival Cycles for {the electrical} recommendation, Trendy Motorbike Sydney for his or her quick components supply, Siri Hayes for her pictures suggestions, and Nick Venn for introducing him to Bike EXIF within the first place.
