04 in new home

Here's Voyager 04 in Scotland with it's new owner Andrew Strang. Andrew commissioned a thorough update and refurbishment on this Voyager and this provided and opportunity to design the final solution to the poor cooling that they've suffered from since 1989 - rather a long development process. The fix basically consisted of changing the plumbing from 'series' to 'parrallel' connection of the radiators, plus maximisation of radiator size and flow. Three 'update' kits were made and supplied to the Voyagers that haven't already had a 'third radiator solution' fitted.

Very interesting riding this bike (for MOT and carb jetting runs) compared with FJ, which is basically the next iteration of the production design. The shift from left hand (production)gearchange to right hand (FJ), to suit my damaged left ankle, certainly caused some confusion and 04's control set up for Andrew meant my much shorter legs only just reached the controls. But the collection of small differences;- Production 3.2" longer wheelbase, taller gearing, heavier flywheel and 'stock' cylinder head porting added up to a quite different character. We're looking at a similar difference to the Velocette MSS and Venom pair, or maybe Guzzi's Le Mans and T3 couple. Of course many readers may be too young to have heard of any of these bikes (Velocette? Is it Italian?) Sorry about that.

On the other hand the steering and braking on both 04 and FJ feel identical - hardly surprising because they are. Same brakes, same front tyres, same Mk11 HCS.

There are some nice roads in Scotland, although the local authority seems just as keen as Bristol Council on disturbing the traffic flow. Hopefully Andrew will enjoy the FF experience while startling the locals. There's a Voyager in every part of the British mainland now.

04 in new home

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Congratulations!

Hi Andy. Your bike is looking very good. I'm just a bit further north than you in Perthshire. I have a similar, but different FF machine. The Lawrence Delta. If you fancy meeting up, give me a shout. 0777 33 82 594, or e'mail pulhamdown AT gmail.com

Colin Ferguson