Voyagers

04, the production prototype that went on to become the show bike at the 1989 motorcycle show launch, is now in daily use in the hands of a Derbyshire Doctor - ironically one of the major roles seen for the Voyager was as a paramedic emergency vehicle, so this one at least has met its target! (36KB jpg)

01 about to go into the bodyshop, that's the plastic tent in the foreground. This was a bit of a panic job when we discovered how out of order the professional body job was.

and through a plastic sheet, dimly, we see our man at work, in the dust

Here's our most important team member, Wayne Erg checking out the shape for fit. You'll see Wayne again, years later, helping me get the ComforTmax the right shape. There's a small pile of production parts, footboxes, uprights, in the foreground.

And finally out of the tent and into the carpark for visual comparison. Does it look more like the car or the bike? Hmmm...

This is the shape the Voyagers would have been if we'd let it. An expensive and professionally produced clay that had almost no relationship to the detailed briefing we supplied.

Here it is again. And you thought the Voyagers were ugly! Our qualified aerodynamicist thought it would fly. So did I.

Another prototype at the final assebly stage, another stroppy child! This one's currently studying 'creative product design' at university and fits this vehicle rather better. I had a good try at producing safer, more comfortable and economical two-wheelers but it turns out I was rather better at bringing up children. So it goes.

01. This Voyager, along with 05 and the prototype 002, is leading development and the performance is well up to the original design specification for these vehicles. The paint job was done by the owner who tells us that it isn't actually RAF Red Arrows paint, 'onest Guv. The story of the Voyager project, including many of the machines featured here, with b/w photos not shown here is offered for sale in publications. Look for the review "what ever happened"(152KB jpg)

002 reborn, about to be used as a body jig. Note the increasing use of sheet metalwork in the construction as the packaging of familiar components is improved. I'll be happy to build you one like this - but there are cheaper one-off two wheelers! It's also true that this was seen as the last Voyager, and the opportunity was taken to try out unused alternatives to the production design. Some were a big improvement, while other features may not appear again...(92KB jpg)

002 reborn, finished, run-in, blown -up, rebuilt, run-in again and finally fitted with a new clutch. It's great. Development is now centering on improving cockpit heating and comfort. by the end of 1998 it had covered 8550 miles, much of it with the family shopping in the back. It does about 60mpg out of town (Averaging around 70mph on a trip) but round town it uses so little that I routinely forget where the last fuel was bought, at a fiver a go.

The story of all these Voyagers and nearly all the other FF prototypes featured on these pages can be followed in the picture diary.

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History The Banana Early Prototypes Voyagers 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Last update 21st. September 2004. comments etc to ingrid oesten

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