Sat on the new Voyager

[redeye]

Valdez, myself & our wives went to the San Mateo M/C show yesterday. I made a bee-line for the Kawasaki display to see first hand the NEW 2009 Voyager in person.

In person & to my uneducated eye the bike looks kind of slapped together. The bags are ugly & very flimsy. With the lid open you have to be careful not to bump it or twist it off the hinges. The trunk, although large, was made from the same thin plastic material. I do think these bags will not last very long before they start cracking from the vibration of the M/C.

I then sat on the bike. The floorboards seem to be mounted higher on the bike than what they are on my Nomad. This caused my legs to be bent in an uncomfortable, knee high position. There is no place to mount hi way pegs anywhere on the crash bars w/o removing the lower fairing. And even then I think the engine bars are too far forward.

The seat is shaped like a U front to rear. The rear part of the saddle does a good job placing your butt in a deep pocket.

But for me, the front of the seat crushed my junk against the front of the seat that goes up over the rear of the tank.

When you sit on the bike there is no room to move around, if needed to get comfortable. You are solidly planted not on but in the seat.

Over all I think Kawasaki missed the mark with the 2009 Voyager........Just my $00.02 -Rich

[dabull]

nice report...ya didn't happen to see/sit on the new Nomad did ya?

Aloha

Derry

[dantama]

It's a little late now, but for all of you that are still going to go to a show and see the bike, I propose that you grab hold of the lid to the bags and "accidentally" really torque on it. That way if all the show bike keep getting lids and hinges sprung, maybe they will go back to the old nomad bags :)

[redeye]

nice report...ya didn't happen to see/sit on the new Nomad did ya?

Aloha

Derry

Yes I did sit on the Nomad, thinking it may be a better fit. But it is the same bike w/o the trunk, fairing & abs-linked braking. The seat is the same on both bikes.

[dhomoney]

Yeah we should have torqued them all or kneed them so they would build better ones. Sad to hear this about the Kawi's. I may have to look to a Victory or HD when the time comes, though that is quite a ways away.

[dabull]

Were the Nad bags the same? Flimsy and all?

[dhomoney]

DaBull,

From everything I have read both are flimsy.

[dabull]

Man thats a shame....i reckon their customer support will be the first to hear about it...

Aloha

Derry

[cactusjack]

For those of you who read Rider magazine - I received the latest issue yesterday and in the letters to the editor, some obviously old-school Voyager enthusiast is whining how the 1700 is not a "real" Voyager because it's a V-twin and not the engine out of the Concours. Wah, wah, wah.

I thought it was funny. It's like the guys who wrap themselves in the flag and shout that HD is the only true American motorcycle, and we who dare to ride an inferior foreign product are the cause of the downfall of western civilization, etc.

[dank]

New Voyager is nice, but I gotta say I too was hoping they would base it the C14's engine with maybe a 6.5 gallon tank.

[bobzinger]

I sat on the Voyager Saturday and I felt that the seating/handlebar position was perfect for me. (5'11"). I want a blue one!

[dhomoney]

I thought it was funny. It's like the guys who wrap themselves in the flag and shout that HD is the only true American motorcycle, and we who dare to ride an inferior foreign product are the cause of the downfall of western civilization, etc.

I'm sure the Victory guys find that funny as well!!!! :)

[ponch]

From the sound of it, it seems like they made the ergonomics like the harley touring bikes, which is tighter than the 1600 nomad. I guess they are shooting for the shorter crowd.


Valdez, myself & our wives went to the San Mateo M/C show yesterday. I made a bee-line for the Kawasaki display to see first hand the NEW 2009 Voyager in person.

In person & to my uneducated eye the bike looks kind of slapped together. The bags are ugly & very flimsy. With the lid open you have to be careful not to bump it or twist it off the hinges. The trunk, although large, was made from the same thin plastic material. I do think these bags will not last very long before they start cracking from the vibration of the M/C.

I then sat on the bike. The floorboards seem to be mounted higher on the bike than what they are on my Nomad. This caused my legs to be bent in an uncomfortable, knee high position. There is no place to mount hi way pegs anywhere on the crash bars w/o removing the lower fairing. And even then I think the engine bars are too far forward.

The seat is shaped like a U front to rear. The rear part of the saddle does a good job placing your butt in a deep pocket.

But for me, the front of the seat crushed my junk against the front of the seat that goes up over the rear of the tank.

When you sit on the bike there is no room to move around, if needed to get comfortable. You are solidly planted not on but in the seat.

Over all I think Kawasaki missed the mark with the 2009 Voyager........Just my $00.02 -Rich

[cruiserv]

I thought it was funny. It's like the guys who wrap themselves in the flag and shout that HD is the only true American motorcycle, and we who dare to ride an inferior foreign product are the cause of the downfall of western civilization, etc.

I'm sure the Victory guys find that funny as well!!!! :)

As a Victory owner also, I must inject this thought. Claimed to be an "American" motorcycle, right? Well possibly someone who knows more than I (even tho I own one) could explain how anything made in Canada, and is metric front to back, is an American motorcycle. I'm done.

[bobzinger]

The bags on the Voyager/Nomad are no flimsier than any other bike I saw at the show including the Victory Kingpin. You don't ride with the bags open anyway! Once they're closed they're solid and they latch great. Other Mfg bikes bags at the show didn't close tight at all and were flimsy even when closed.
The bars are closer but isn't that what 90% of us do...add risers to bring the bars up and back. The only thing I didn't care for (other than 36mpg) was the lowers...they're just in the way and no storage in the top.

[dabull]

reckon i'll just stick with my Nad, that I just got a few months ago, that took me forever to talk the wife into... :)