Journey riders know that the extra your bike falls over, the much less you are worried about your bike falling over. It’s a necessary philosophy should you plan to take your bike into the tough stuff. And it’s the explanation that the gas tank on this Honda NX650 Dominator is stuffed with dings.
The Dominator belongs to Tristan Dewey, a movie and tv composer and sound engineer based mostly 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 isn’t any present pony—he’s constructed it as a bonafide journey bike.
“It was impressed by my childhood pet goat, ‘Rumba,’ that may climb the un-climbable,” Tristan tells us. “I constructed it for my native hills—designed to be jumped, bumped, dropped, and infrequently buried in mud.”
“The aesthetic was influenced by the previous dented Honda 175 gas tank, gifted by pal, Evan Lordan. It provides the rider permission to drop the bike in tough terrain and benefit from the second whereas including one other story to the bike’s historical past.”
With out a workshop or shed at his disposal, Tristan began the construct on the again of an previous Bedford RL truck. He had restricted instruments at his disposal, but he managed to do all the pieces 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 plenty of mods alongside the best way,” he quips.
The work began with a full tear-down in order that all the pieces might 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 an alternative, 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 stainless-steel headers are Tristan’s handiwork too, and terminate in a Supertrapp muffler. “It was my first try at welding stainless with a really primary 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 vital 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 protecting the headlight and entrance flip indicators in place. The cockpit sports activities Magura handlebars, a Motogadget speedo and switches, and Oxford heated grips for these late-afternoon rides dwelling.
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 device roll that sits above the headlight carries “each device 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 quick.
Different upgrades embody 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 copy Honda badges, and the {custom} seat is upholstered in kangaroo leather-based. However there’s no paint job as such—as an alternative, Tristan’s been driving it exhausting, dressing the gas tank in additional scars than it got here with.
“It’s been dropped and bits have snapped off,” he says. “But it surely’s all the time made it dwelling from each street and roadless journey it’s been on.”
Tristan thanks Jas at Jax Storage for {the electrical} recommendation, Fashionable Motorbike Sydney for his or her quick elements supply, Siri Hayes for her images suggestions, and Nick Venn for introducing him to Bike EXIF within the first place.
