Paolo Manaraformer driver converted to trainer, presents this spectacular Honda NX650 Dominator “Desert Thumper” on which he has worked incessantly in his customization workshop Manara Artwork. A mount that preserves all the necessary precepts to be considered a true “Old School” Dakarian.
In Manara’s own words, in an interview given to his Bike Bound colleagues, he explains that he competed for 12 seasons, winning two motocross championships at the national level. However, injuries kept him from racing:
“It wasn’t until 2017, after another serious injury, that I decided to hang up my helmet and embark on a new path: motorcycle customization.” From that moment on, he rethought his future and decided to start preparing for it, where the “Amazzone” became his first job, starting with an old Suzuki GSX-R, although he did not specify the year.
Honda NX650 Dominator “Desert Thumper” in detail
Now he returns to the current panorama with this NX650 Dominator from ’91the perfect platform to bring to life the preparation that Paolo had in mind: “This motorcycle was born as a business project combining my two great passions, the love for off-road and motorcycles from the 80s and 90s.”
Concludes on the work carried out on the NX650 Dominator: “The project aims to propose a rally-raid motorcycle for medium-duration off-road trips, without leaving aside aesthetics and adding a touch of my style.”
The motorcycle has countless modifications, although the most notable would be the following:
- full front
- Modified air box
- Complete exhaust
- Elongated swingarm
- Front and rear brake system replaced
- Modified rear subframe
- New carburetion
- Custom brake discs
- Reinforced wheel spokes
- Digital revolution counter
- Custom made instrument holder
- Front and rear LED lights
- LED depth lights
- Double thickness air chambers
- Handguard
- Simplified electrical system
- Boano fenders and fairings
- Oversized footrest
- Non-slip Tecnosel saddle
- New tires
- Hubs and spacers machined from solid aluminum.
- Triple-layer metallic paint on the frame and wheel hubs.
- Ceramic painted engine crankcase/swingarm
- Various anodized
- Matte black component powder paint.
- Painting of fairings with graphics.
Judge the result for yourself, although we assume that more than one of you will have had your mouth agape and are devising how to gather the money to order one just like it. Surely, like Manara, among SMN readers there are fans of Offroad and Old School motorcycles who always dreamed of having a motorcycle like this.
If we add to this that with the enormous number of modifications that this NX650 Dominator by Manara Artwork Now it is much faster, lighter and more versatile (we don’t even talk about its spectacular aesthetics). We only have to ask ourselves: Are we facing the definitive Rally version of the legendary Japanese model?
