New Kawasaki Voyager Canceled

[Voyager86]

In 2003 the last Kawasaki Voyager rolled off the assembly line.
For the last three years the buzz has been about the replacement for the Voyager. Would Kawasaki step up and take on the Gold Wing with a competitive bike.

The Voyager was and still is a fantastic bike. It suffered from a lack of innovation on Kawasaki's part by not updating the bike yearly to keep up with Honda and to a greater extent a lack of promotion.

The lack of advertising and promotion not it’s dated engineering is what finally led to the Voyager’s demise.

On Sunday the waiting for a new Kawasaki touring flagship came to an abrupt end. The announcement was made on the American Voyager Association Web Site that Kawasaki has suspended the development of the new Kawasaki Voyager for an undetermined period of time.

This is a sad day indeed for those of us who were waiting for Kawasaki to build a truly great touring bike. For those of us who love our Kawasaki motorcycles and take our long distance riding serious this is truly a loss.

We can only hope that Kawasaki will see the value in adding a true world class touring bike to it's line up in the near future.

Additional details on the AVA web site at http://www.amervoyassoc.org/newvoyager.htm

[Spok]

i really wanted to see the voyager on the showroom floors again.

[BudLight]

The Voyager is a great bike. I too was disappointed in the cancellation of any plans by Kawasaki to go after the Touring market. They must not do very good market research as it would seem to me that the coming of "age" of the baby boomers would point to a huge opportunity for the cushier bikes like the Gold Wing, Voyager, Venture.
Guess I will just have to take real good care of my 2001 Voyager!
-Bud

[Scruffy]

Just more incentive for me to buy and rebuild the KZ1300 touring bike at work... Although I'd rather buy a Voyager for serious touring. Just a valve cover gasket for a KZ13 is hard to find, let alone hardparts. C'mon Kawi, step up to the plate again...
-Scruffy

[a99miata]

I was waiting on the "new voyager" but now that it is canceled....looks like i might be going elsewhere...come on kawie!!!! gheese!!

[RADCORAD]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum. I too wanted to see the new voyager. It's to bad tha Maw Kaw decided to stop production design. I have an 02 Voyager and it is a great machine. I can only hope that by the time I am ready for a new tourer that there is a Kaw in the picture. Seems like a good bunch of people here.

[Rainfire]

I, too, am disappointed that the Voyager is gone. I hope this is temporary. I have a 2003. It is a beautiful bike. Better than a Goldwing. Some of us older guys need a well-appointed but lighter touring bike. Comfort, power, smoothness, all the bells and whistles for a price well under the "other" touring bike would be a best seller IMHO. In a couple of years I would be in the market for a classic update. Kawasaki has the expertise...but do they have the courage??? Hmmmmm....we will see.

[triton54]

The decision that Kawasaki Heavy Industries made in regards to the development of a new Voyager was very disheartening. Some of the blame also goes to Kawasaki U.S.A. for not having the courage or the faith to backup what they know, that a new Voyager is just the machine that the aging Kawasaki sportbike and cruiser riders would buy in a heartbeat if it were as well designed as the rest of the new machines they have come out with in the last couple of years. I have purchased 8 new Kawasaki motorcycles since 1977 but now I am wondering if maybe I have had more respect for Kawasaki than Kawasaki has had for me and all the other loyal owners that have supported them over the years. This is truly a sad day for both Kawasaki and its customers.

[Ken]

They are faced with a tough decision. Should they pour hundreds of millions of research and development money into developing a touring bike to enter a market dominated by Honda and BMW? It would seem from the Voyager and the Concourse that they have chosen a different path -- that leads to sport bikes and cruisers. But I hope they are playing with us and have some plans for a full-fledged touring bike in '07 or '08 - this market needs more competition.

[windrider18]

I would have liked to see a Voyager too. It would have given my husband something to compare to the Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe he's looking at down the road. I keep my fingers crossed that they don't kill the Concours too. The Concours is the only touring bike I will be able to pick off the kickstand; all the others are too heavy (or overpriced in the case of BMW). *sigh* Here's keeping my fingers crossed for next year.

[RADCORAD]

I would have liked to see a Voyager too. It would have given my husband something to compare to the Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe he's looking at down the road. I keep my fingers crossed that they don't kill the Concours too. The Concours is the only touring bike I will be able to pick off the kickstand; all the others are too heavy (or overpriced in the case of BMW). *sigh* Here's keeping my fingers crossed for next year.
__________________
Angela


You could probably lift a Voyager off the kickstand. It has a very low center of gravity with the fuel tank being located under the seat. The Voyager only weighs 730 lbs. dry. That's much less than any other touring bike. Much easier to lift than a Venture which is very top heavy in my opinion.

[Voy87]

I also am very disapointed with KHI... I can't believe that they
tell us that they are working on a new Voyager, sent out a
request list for what you would like to see on the new Voyager,
get us all pumped up and then DUMPED!!!!

I own a 1987 Voyager XII and love it!!!! (Except for the ignitor
issue that they never recalled but reluctantly paid when the starter
chain failed) I really was looking to trade in the beast and buy a
new Voyager when it arrived, but now I am looking at other touring
bikes (reluctantly) since KHI doesn't want to make any more money
from the touring market. That's right no b#@! no glory KHI, leave the
market to Honda and BMW since they want to get richer.

I hope KHI reconsiders the market and their mistake and get all of the
people that are on the fence flocking to Kawasaki for their NEW VOYAGER
when they re-annouce that they were just kidding with the annoucement.

[windrider18]

Originally Posted by RADCORAD

You could probably lift a Voyager off the kickstand. It has a very low center of gravity with the fuel tank being located under the seat. The Voyager only weighs 730 lbs. dry. That's much less than any other touring bike. Much easier to lift than a Venture which is very top heavy in my opinion.

It depends on the seat height. Most cruisers I can't get off the kickstands because the seats are so low that I can't use my legs for leverage (the bane of long legs with bad knees.) I do better with the "sport" types of bikes and their taller seats, although sport-standards are in short supply My current ride weighs 519 lbs wet. The Concours is 600 lbs dry, so I figure it's about 650 wet. Not too much heavier than my current ride. That's one of the things that worries my husband about the Royal Star - it weighs more than a Goldwing! That sucker's *heavy*.

[Ken]

Originally Posted by windrider18

That's one of the things that worries my husband about the Royal Star - it weighs more than a Goldwing! That sucker's *heavy*.

Not actually - the Royal TD weighs about 100 less than the Wing. However, with the Wing's opposed six cylinder being SO low to the ground, it likely has a lower center of gravity which may make it feel lighter. I've spent some time on an '04 Wing recently and was shocked at how nimble it was at slow speeds.

[RADCORAD]

Seat hight on a Voyager (according to the manual) is 755mm. Low but wide. I love my Voyager and when I wear this one out I will look for another with low miles. I can't buy a new one as you all know. I used to be a Honda person. The Voyager made me appreciate Kawasaki's. When I went looking for a touring bike I didn't even know Kaw made one. I was looking at Wing's and didn't really like the fit. I felt a little cramped. I saw the Voyager, sat on it and said, this is the one. I'm very glad I found it. Perhaps the reason the Voyager sold so few units was advertising. I've been riding for years and didn't know about them until I found mine.

[igozumn]

Originally Posted by RADCORAD

When I went looking for a touring bike I didn't even know Kaw made one. Perhaps the reason the Voyager sold so few units was advertising. I've been riding for years and didn't know about them until I found mine.

Bingo!!! And there is someone inside Team Green's universe, wondering why the Xii didn't sell as well as they had hoped. Rarely saw an ad in a magazine and NEVER saw an ad on TV. I'd be curious to know if the lack of advertising was KAW USA's fault, or KHI's. Anyone have the answer?

[Voyager86]

I'm not sure if I can get another 20 years out of my "86" Voyager. I love the bike but was ready to see what Kawasaki had come up with to replace it.

A cruiser with bags doesn't get it. This leaves me looking at the BMW as the alternative as I don't want another Honda. Too many bad memories being stranded in the middle of nowhere. The problem is the BMW isn't what I want. It's nice but I don’t like the looks of those cylinders hanging out the side or the price.

I know I could try and find a newer used Voyager but I might as well keep the one I've got and just fix it. I must say I am very disappointed with how all of this has come about with Kawasaki dropping the Voyager the way they did and how everyone who has been waiting was lead on.

I saw the release of the new 1400 Ninja and thought that maybe I was seeing an early preview of what the new voyager might be. New larger 4 cylinder engine and with a larger faring, heavier frame and a few touring tweaks and accessories I thought it might be interesting.

Oh well, I will ride my bike today and maybe pick up another bike as a daily rider and wait for those Ohio Historical Plates to put on the bike. As it is I'm always being stopped and ask questions about my bike and love showing it to jealous Gold Wingers when I show them how easy it is to work on and maintain.

Love my Voyager. It would take a very special bike to replace it. NOT a want-to-be touring bike (cruiser with bags) but, a full blown Touring Bike.

I just hope Kawasaki gets the message SOON! And starts building another Real Touring Bike.

[SouthernVoyager]

Kawasaki's suspension of the new Voyager makes you wonder if they are serious about the motorcycle business. Throwing in the towel on the Voyager will leave them with rocket bikes and HD clones. They have the opportunity to make another very special bike like the Voyager II and make they own market niche with an affordable high performance true touring bike.

[igozumn]

You are correct in that all they want to do is racing and cruising. The thing is, once the squids/squirrels get done blasting down the highway on the back wheel, and once the bar hoppers get through downing all the pale ale they can handle, they may actually want to to go somewhere. And a tourer is the best tool for that job. The problem comes in when the so-far-brand-loyal customer who bought the race bike, who bought the cruiser, now has to jump ship to Honda or BMW. And THAT is less money in Kawasaki's product. Kawasaki may not think that's a big problem, but when that guy tells everyone that he's bought the best bike he's ever ridden, (the best bike being a touring bike, regardless of brand....) then everyone else will think that it is the brand that came up with the best bike. EZ sell for Honda/BMW and near impossible for Kawasaki to overcome. Then, before you know it, KHI will be asking Kaw USA to justify the money for the new sport bike or cruiser and then, well, Kawasaki motorcycles will be no more.

[Ken]

Originally Posted by igozumn

The problem comes in when the so-far-brand-loyal customer who bought the race bike, who bought the cruiser, now has to jump ship to Honda or BMW. And THAT is less money in Kawasaki's product. Kawasaki may not think that's a big problem, but when that guy tells everyone that he's bought the best bike he's ever ridden, (the best bike being a touring bike, regardless of brand....) then everyone else will think that it is the brand that came up with the best bike.

That was me earlier this year. When I finally figured out that what I enjoy the most about riding is LONG rides, I decided the Vulcan had to go and set my eyes on touring and sport touring bikes. I ruled out the Concourse quickly - nice bike, but old technology. I didn't even know the Voyager existed. That led me to BMW, the Yamaha FJR, and the Honda ST1300. Kawasaki wasn't even in the picture, which is a shame. I plan to ride the ST13 for 3 years. At that time I'll probably not care about the 'sport' side of touring and will look at pure tourers. If that day were to come right now, the Wing would win hands down.

I hope Kawasaki gets in the picture. However, with sales of sport tourers being poor in North America, and Wings not selling well in Europe, they may have a tough time justifying the R&D expense.