I had a mint '99 for several years. The bike was Kawasaki's answer to Honda's Gold Wing. Suzuki also answered with the Calvalcade and Yamaha with the Venture.
Here's text from a post I made back in 2009:
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The Voyager is nothing like a GL 1200. It is listed at only 735 lb. compared to Concours 649.
The Voyager's stock suspension is pretty marginal, until you take some steps to set it up right, ie: Progressive springs, proper fork oil etc.
The Voyager's in line 1200cc 4 is torquey, and I kid you not, is about dead even with a Concours in real world acceleration. Drag strip numbers no. Voyager is torquier down low, and the Concours will pull away in the upper rev ranges, but not by much, and then only after it catches up to the Voyager due to its initial low rpm range torque advantage. The Voyager is also extremely smooth, no vibes. It has hydraulic lifters, ie: no valve adjustments. The Voyager gets better mpg than Concours.
Handling, when suspension is setup right, and it is ridden right, is surprisingly quick for the apparent visual bulk of the Voyager. It will stay right with a Concours in most cornering situations, until things start getting pretty aggressive. Then the Concours has the edge in cornering clearance and capability, and on being more nimble.
Surprisingly, the measurement from tip of one mirror, to tip of the other is identical, each about 36". The Voyager's fairing and windshield are wider however. Also surprising is that the Concours has better weather protection. Its the better cool and cold weather choice. This may seem contradictory, but the Voyager MUST have some air wings IMO, to tame the heat on hot days, even moreso than the Concours.
The width on the rear, from outer bag edge to outer bag edge, is 36" on the Concours and only 32" on the Voyager. There is significantly more storage room on the Voyager in both the bags and the cavernous trunk. I don't know its litre capacity, but that Voyager trunk will hold more than any Givi I've ever heard of.
There is no comparison of any of the Honda GL's up through the 1500 models, to the Voyager in any performance area. The Voyager is not boring to ride or sluggish in any way.
Which to choose? I chose both. Concours came first, Voyager second for 2 up comfort. My wife and I take long trips. The Voyager provides a lot of room for both of us, unlike the Concours. I am not a 150 lb, 5' 9" rider. If so, 2 up might work for me on the Concours. Being 6' 1" and 230 lb, it just didn't work for us. Hence, the Voyager.
There's so much room on the Voyager, especially once I installed a $40 trunk mount extender kit, that I have to reach back to touch my wife's leg to know if she's still back there! We're not spooned together on the Voyager like we are on the Concours. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but after a couple of hours into a long multi day trip, that gets pretty old when you can't move much due to being crammed together on the bike.
Your decision will have to be based on which one provides the most advantages for what you want most out of your bike. IMO, the fun factor is large on either one, so its not a bad choice either way.
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I'm curious, are you saying the GL1200 is slower or faster than the Voyager?? I have an 85' LTD and have considered getting
a later model bike. The 01-03 Voyagers are out there in decent numbers and the prices are pretty good. I'd like some more input if you don't mind since this is a comparison thread and it makes sense to highlight the GL1200 and Voyager differences since they look very much alike.
I can say this for a fact, MY GL1200 and Concours are in no way shape or form comparable. The Connie excels at just about every area. I've gone out on a 4000 mile trip with the Connie and it performed flawlessly and was compfortable and efficient. The Goldwing is very good as well. Goldwing quality is tough to beat but, for one up riding and overall a blast, I'd give the Connie the edge every time.
To clarify, IMO the Voyager is superior to the GL's up to 1500 model in any performance area. The ride of the Voyager may not be as plush as a GL, but that's what allows it to be much more in cornering than you expect by looking at it.
I also agree with the post that describes the Voyager doing things a Concours does, just not 'willingly'. You have to ride it right and work it more in the handling department, including some body english, to make it do what the Concours does in most normal situations, but it can be done and is a lot of fun.
In the Voy / Conc comparo, to the advantage of the Voyager the engine has a lot of grunt in the mid rpm range that provides a lot of push without having to be in the exact gear for the situation. You have to be above a two and a half grand but from there on up to 5 or 6 grand, you get a nice wallop of torque delivered from a very smooth and quite engine, all without having to wring out the engine to its rpm limits.
