I have not owned a Voyager, but I did have a reasonable length test ride on a prototype(?) soon after the production bike was announced. Being familiar with riding the Quasar, I was soon at home on the Voyager - I think I was the first potential customer who had put his feet in the right place first time!
The material on this site is either public domain material, such as the original brochure, or my personal opinion. It is not intended to be a thorough review of the Voyager, just that information which I possess.
The Voyager was developed from prototype designs by Royce Creasey. Although it was a completely fresh design, Royce mentions in his book "What Ever Happened" that he was convinced of the benefits of FFs by the Quasar, but felt that a different approach was needed.
As a Quasar rider, the most notable feature of the Voyager for me was that it solved almost every one of the faults of the Quasar. The main points of the design of the Voyager are:
·
The Reliant engine, as used in the Quasar, was chosen as the most suitable power plant. However, its state of tune was raised so that it delivered 60 bhp compared to approximately 40 bhp in standard tune. Mated to the engine was a complete Moto Guzzi gearbox, final drive and rear suspension.·
The front suspension is a symmetrical (ie, two-sided) hub-centre layout based on a design by Bob Tait. The front suspension is designed to collapse under the front of the bike in an impact, a feature that was unintentionally tested on a prototype!·
The frame uses the engine as a stressed member and is based around a central 'bulkhead' formed by the plate that connected the engine to the gearbox. This is a simply brilliant piece of design - it only needs a simple triangle on each side to the swing arm pivots to produce not only vertical stiffness (ie, in bounce) but also torsional stiffness.·
The rider is positioned as far forwards as possible. This has two main benefits - a good weight distribution is achieved (both for handling and stability) and adequate space is made for a passenger without excessive wheelbase. This last point may be the Voyager's most lasting legacy - at 1612 mm (63.5 in), the wheelbase is halfway between a BMW K-series and a Gold Wing - proving that a FF need not be as long as the Quasar (wheelbase 1955 mm!).·
A full backrest slides over a stepped dual seat to accommodate a solo rider or a rider and pillion. The pillion sits 'inside' the rear bodywork and a headrest fairing also slides backwards or forwards to provide pillion space and yet maintain an aerodynamic shape when the bike is ridden solo. Very clever stuff.The specification included in the original Voyager brochure is reproduced
here.
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