Honda Dominator

NX650 RD08
2001

This bike was bought back in 2015 as a commuter and a no-modifications bike to run along side my then project bike a 1979 SR500. The project never got finished and lets say the NX didn’t really stay un-modified..

I always been drawn to heavy duty looking machines and the motocross world. There is something so aspiring in the ability to go wherever you want and not have to stop just because the road gets rough or the weather don’t want to cooperate. It started with the basic clean up, indicators, mirrors and unbolting things that’s unnecessary as the huge top box that was on the bike when it was acquired it also got a new rear to get rid of the huge oversized taillight.

After some riding around in that state I found a large hole in the mid pipe of the stock exhaust and that lead to a full 2-1 exhaust system from GPR got fitted and with that a new ECU. Then the summer 2016 it did a first Euro-tour down through Germany and Poland. And I started to really love the bike and realised how fun it is to ride, it’s not at all a fast bike but a capable little machine.

The upcoming winter the NX became the project bike and new Excel rims got laced to the OEM hubs and Continental TKC80’s where fitted. Went down to 19” front and kept the 17” in the back but both got slightly wider. And the tank and front firings got wrapped matte black to cover the bold graphics that easily placed the bike in the 80’s. EBC front disc and pads and a new Renthal handlebar added to the more modern look. The front windscreen got exchanged for a slightly slimmer design that went under the knife to fit perfectly.

That summer of 2017 it was time to pack the bags again and head south on the bike, this time it took us on a 10 day trip through the alps and down to Milan and back without any issues more than a lost bolt for the heat guard on the exhaust. There was more bags packad that summer as we moved to California and the bike got stored away to only really be ridden once the upcoming summer for a shorter trip in Sweden until the winter of 19/20 when we moved back to Sweden and the plans for the NX had grown and pile of new parts was growing bigger and bigger.

It’s currently sporting a Acerbis 23L fuel tank, digital speedo cluster from Trail Tech, Trail Tech Eclipse headlight and DRLs from Denali. The engine has been overhauled with a bored out cylinder, oversized piston and new valves. Both the cold and hot side of the engine is new, on the cold side is a new Mikuni T40 carburettor and on the hot side a new full exhaust made originally for the XR650L that has been modified to fit inside the frame of the NX. Suspension got an overhaul also with a new rear chock and new internals up front which made a huge upgrade to the handling.

A custom loom with a Motogadget M-Unit Blue acting as the heart of the bike has been fitted and the amount of wires has been reduced and new low profile handlebar switches from Motoism cleaned up the cockpit immensely.

This bike is the purest form of adventure bike there is, simple, tall and fairly light but still packs a punch! My main goal has been to make it look more modern and be highly functioning. There are still more things planned but this bike is all about that function and I’m really trying my way to see what I like and what works for it. I recently low-sided it on a gravel road and that exposed some new areas that needs to be fixed. But this bike is really meant to be ridden and abused, the scratches and dents will tell the stories of this bike..

2020-2023 seen a slight transformation of the bike to reach the next chapter for the NX, a custom loom was made to sort out all the electronics and place things in a better spot. At the heart of the new loom is a Motogadget mo.unit blue and new minimal switches on the handlebars. The development of the Rally Tower was also initiated and more parts for the bike were created to tackle different weak spots of the OEM parts. More to come..