We regularly wax lyrical about the virtues of the venerable Honda Dominator, and how its rugged simplicity makes it a prime candidate for customization. Many find it charming in stock form too, thanks to its quirky early-2000s adventure bike aesthetic. But not Žiga Petek.
The man behind Slovenia’s Gas&Retro workshop ranks metal fabrication as his favorite aspect of custom bike building. So the amount of plastic on the iconic Honda thumper grinds his gears. With a 2002-model Honda NX650 Dominator on his bench, he set out to rid it of its stock body panels and dress it in as much metal as possible.
Much to Žiga’s chagrin, the bike still wears a pair of plastic Acerbis fork protectors. A set of handmade guards would have been preferable, but the project’s scant 49-day timeline didn’t leave much wiggle room.
The Honda actually landed in Žiga’s lap six months ago, when he traded a Harley Sportster for it plus a handful of other bikes. It belonged to a friend who had started customizing it before running out of steam. Žiga relegated it to the corner of his workshop… until a conversation in early July prompted him to turn it into an MX-inspired scrambler for an event in late August.
“While I was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen for BMW Motorrad Days as an invited builder, I met Mathias and Barbara from Bad&Bold,” he tells us, “and we spoke about the MaxlRIDE event that they organize. I was part of it last year with my Husqvarna ‘120 years’ tribute build.”
Held on the grounds of a 14th-century Bavarian castle, MaxlRIDE is an adventure riding festival catering to modern dual-sport bikes and retro scramblers alike. Keen to return, Žiga reasoned that he could get the Dominator ready to shred in less than 50 days. “I was like, ‘Is it possible?’ and I said to myself, ‘Sure it is!’”
Back at the shop, Žiga dragged the Honda onto the table and began undoing some of the mods that had already been done. The work included removing a set of perfectly good aftermarket plastics, because Žiga doesn’t like to “just buy stuff and put it on the bike.”
Since the Honda Dominator’s fuel tank is sculpted to interface with the OEM fairing, it looked a little off standing alone. Žiga replaced it with the smoother unit from the NX650’s more road-focussed cousin, the Honda SLR650 (which has no fairing). A few deft mods were all it took to massage it into place.
Moving to the rear of the bike, Žiga built a new subframe with an integrated luggage rack at the back, and extra bracing below the seat that cradles a handmade electronics box. A custom-made three-quarter length seat sits up top, covered in black vinyl with stylish white piping, while steel side panels flank the subframe. Finishing touches include threaded-in anchor points for luggage, and combination turn signal and taillight LEDs from Highsider.
The Honda’s new fenders are, naturally, hand-rolled aluminum items. Žiga modeled them on classic motocross fenders, but with a slight twist.
The Dominator’s monstrous 9” LED headlight comes courtesy of the 4×4 lighting specialists Strands Lighting Division. Žiga mounted it in a handmade cage, similar to those you’ll find on classic Baja race bikes. A set of TRW handlebars sits behind it, fitted with Domino grips and the original Honda switches and controls.
Žiga swapped out the Dominator’s running gear too. The upside-down Showa forks from a Honda CRF450 do duty up front, with a Wilbers shock mounted out back; both are fully adjustable. Fresh 18” laced wheels sit front and back, wrapped in Continental TKC80 rubber.
Thanks to its low mileage, the bulletproof Honda mill needed little more than a service and new gaskets before it was good to go. Žiga swapped the airbox for a pod filter, and modified the bike’s two-into-one-into-two exhaust system to accommodate a GPR muffler.
Last on the list was picking a livery that would turn heads at MaxlRIDE. Žiga got Matej Mrzlika to lay down a striking red paint job, but couldn’t settle on suitable decals. In the end, he doodled a set of cartoonish graphics, which were then sent to Urban Upelj to turn into motocross-grade vinyls.
Gas&Retro’s Honda Dominator is equal parts playful and aggressive, with proportions geared towards unbridled hooliganism. Now that MaxlRIDE is behind him, he might find time to swap out those plastic fork covers.
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