New Voyager

[craigatcsi]

Well, I FINALLY got to see the new Voyager today. The bike shop I got my Venture from last year, approx 30miles away, has 2 of them. He has the Blue and the Silver.

They are very pretty bikes. Then, I sat on one. I thought the seat was hard, and as mentioned in a couple of other threads, the bodywork plastic looked and felt cheap. It really looked like I took my old 1500 Classic and bought the fairing & bags from a bargain bin and painted them up. They looked like add-ons.

The wing and the Venture and the HDs look like everthing was designed as one. Everything looks like you wouldn't use it on another bike. The Voyager stuff looks like you could remove it and add it to almost any non-bagger.

I was very disappointed - and I have been bugging the local dealers about getting one since January.

I'm thinking I will just have to wear mine out. Hopefully the new Venture will be much better. But I have a feeling they will go to the V-Twin - Either drop the V-4 or make a V-Twin Bagger and call it something else.

craigr

[Bartley]

I used to think the same thing about the RSV. Back in '03 I bought a new gl1800. Compared to the sleek styling of the wing, the RSV, to me, seemed to be assembled from a parts bin. Then the yamaha dealer pulled an rsv out of the store and put it on display outside. I had to drive past that bike almost every day. And you know what...everything about it started to grow on me. Within 1 year, I sold my Wing and bought a new 2004 midnight. I have no regrets. It's still a great bike and runs like a scalded dog. But having it for 5 years now, I'm getting the itch for a different bike. I really like everything about the Voyager, except the front profile of the saddlebags. The rider reviews are very positive, and it appears to me that Kawasaki did their homework. They've kept the price quite low by not adding too many frills as standard equipment. I'll wait until 2010 to see if Yamaha has an updated venture. If not, it'll probably be a Voyager or an Ultra Classic,with a leaning toward liquid cooloing. Bottom line.... I think the new Voyager will grow on people.

[Jethroish]

 

Everything looks like you wouldn't use it on another bike. The Voyager stuff looks like you could remove it and add it to almost any non-bagger.

 

 

craigr

 

 

Pretty much because you can. Kaw claims that the Voyager was planned first. Then they released the 1700 Vulcan based on knowing that this new Vulcan Voyager was next. So yes, the parts on the Voyager were made to simply add them to the Vulcan.