Bajaj Dominar 250 vs rivals: KTM 250 Duke, Yamaha FZ25, Suzuki Gixxer 250

Bajaj Dominar 250 was launched in India on March 11. The new quarter-litre offering from Bajaj Auto is pitted against a slew of rivals such as the Suzuki Gixxer 250, KTM 250 Duke and also the Yamaha FZ25.

While the Bajaj Dominar 250 and the KTM 250 Duke both are quite close in terms of technical specifications and hardware, the other two Japanese rivals are completely world apart.

For starters, the Indo-Austrian duo share basically the same engines. This is a 248.77 cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled unit. The Dominar gets Bajaj's twin-spark technology and uses a 6-speed gearbox. Its output stands at 26.6 PS at 8,500 rpm and 23.5 Nm at 6,500 rpm in . But for the Duke, the output is higher at 30 PS at 9,000 rpm and 24 Nm peak at 7,500 rpm. The latter also features a 6-speed transmission.

The Yamaha FZ 25 sources power from a 249 cc air cooled engine which delivers slightly lower output of 20.9 PS at 8000 rpm and 20 Nm at 6000 rpm. It uses a 5-speed transmission. Coming on to the Suzuki Gixxer 250, it uses a 249 cc oil-cooled engine which churns out 26.5 PS at 9,000 rpm and 22.6 Nm at 7,500 rpm. Like the Indo-Austrian duo, it also gets a 6-speed transmission. Out of all, the KTM 250 Duke comes out as the most powerful quarter-litre bike, while the Yamaha FZ 25 delivers the lowest power in its class.

Also, what needs to be noted here is that the only BS 6 compliant motorcycles in this comparison include the Duke and the Dominar, while the rest two bikes are yet to be updated to the new stricter emission standards.

As far as pricing is concerned, the 250 Duke is the most costly offering in its class at ₹1.90 lakh*, the Dominar 250 comes at the second position at ₹1.60 lakh*, while the Gixxer 250 is also priced in the same slot at a little over ₹1.59 lakh*. The Yamaha FZ 25 has the lowest-in-segment price of ₹1.36 lakh*.

After the BS 6 update, the prices of the Gixxer 250 and the FZ25 are bound to raise slightly.

*ex-showroom, Delhi