Date reviewed: August 2022| Tested by: Jon Ashley, BikeSocial member | RRP: £369.99 (jacket), £289.99 (trousers) | http://www.furygan.com
This Furygan adventure-based textile motorcycle suit combines the Voyager jacket with Discovery trousers at a combined retail price of £659.98. It’s more expensive than the Furygan Brevent, but that uses a separate waterproof liner, whereas this suit features an laminated outer shell, along with a removable quilted inner thermal lining.
I’ve been wearing this kit for several hundred miles of touring on a variety of roads using my BMW S1000R…
Pros & Cons
- Fully featured for ventilation and pockets
- Very cool and lightweight
- Shower resistant
- Not entirely waterproof
- Challenged at low temperature
- No back protector as standard
Construction and Fit
I ordered the Voyager jacket and Discovery trousers based on Furygan’s recommended chest and waist sizes to echo my kit from both Dainese and RST. But it didn’t fit.
An assessed XXL jacket was unacceptably big and I couldn’t even get the XL trousers on. Of course, I don’t help with a lockdown belly and short legs but looking at the general biking population in my age group, I can see I’m not alone in this challenge (I’m 5’9” stocky and around 15 stone). Of course, fit is going to vary massively from person to person, but it’s a massive hurrah for bricks-and-mortar bike clothing retailers, who deserve your business and have the facilities for you to find this out for yourself.
With sizes corrected, I then ended up with an XL jacket (snug) and XXL trousers (too long).
The jacket whilst snug, feels like it’s fitted well in all the right places and provides a good sleeve length. The jacket armour also feels great and correctly seated. The trousers actually fit really well, although they are overly long for me. The positioning of the knee armour is just on the border of acceptable.
Without the quilted (winter) liners both the jacket and trousers are noticeably light weight for an adventure combo. Compared to similar kit from RST and even my Dainese jacket, the suit is easy to hold and put on and feels relatively unobtrusive.
Looking at the suit construction, the fine weave in the outer material and its almost polyester-looking finish are certainly some distance away from the aramid, heavy ballistic textile feel of most circa- £500 suits. So while this combo pokes above that price range, there is an immediate comfort advantage no doubt buoyed by the use of flexible D3O armour.
The overall construction of this garment is to a high standard with all the usual stitching and panel work reflecting the price range. There are plenty of pockets too, both on the inside and outside of the jacket (which easily accommodate a mobile phone), including some additional side pockets on the trousers that also come with obligatory, but again well-proportioned waist pockets.
There is a neoprene style collar trim, which is a nice touch. If you’ve worn Dainese for example you will have noted their high collars, which can catch the bottom of your helmet. This does do that a little, but nowhere on the scale of other kit I have worn.
Overall, this is a great suit with some fantastic features that really feels good to wear (once you get the right fit).
Protection and certification
Both the Furygan Voyager 3C jacket and the Furygan Discovery trousers come with certification to EN 17092 Level AA; a decent level of protection and assurance and commensurate with this price range.
The jacket has D3O Level 1 armour in the elbows and shoulders, but annoyingly – particularly at this price range – does not include a back-protector. I had to slip in a Level 2 rated Dainese item that fitted well, but is no doubt a little heavier than Furygan’s own bespoke D3O item (which is around £40). The jacket will also accept a chest protector, which in my view should also be supplied as standard at this price, although in class, this is rare.
As with previous reviews of Furygan kit, an airbag fitted (Furygan’s own brand) in the size I’m wearing might not be practical (as there needs to be adequate space for it to inflate). This might mean going up a jacket size, but with all the issues that then presents around regular and proper fitment.
The trousers are also equipped with D3O Level 1 armour at the knees and hips.
For everything you need to know about the safety labels in your motorcycle kit, click here.
Pockets
There are pockets everywhere that you’ll need them on this combo. The Furygan Voyager 3C jacket features an internal Waterproof pocket within the overlapping front inner vertical storm flap and ahead of the main zipper. Within the jacket there are internal pouch pockets in the fixed lining, either side of the stomach, although these will be obscured by both your airbag and winter liner.
Externally, the jacket features two large front pockets with Velcro-secured storm flaps. They’re meant to be wholly waterproof but have vented studs in the base of pockets. There’s also a little zipped pocket on the left upper arm. On the bottom rear of the jacket there’s a large map pocket with a storm flap secured by Velcro.
The Discovery pants feature two zipped hip pockets, a waterproof zipped pocket on the left leg and a waterproof Velcro storm flap pocket with a transparent panel on the right leg.
Fastening
The jacket features an outer storm flap running vertically, with a series of Velcro fastening points. Underneath this is a single, chunky vertical zip. If you’re running the jacket without the liner and airbag, that’s it. If not, the airbag and internal liner will add a vertical zip each.
The jacket features a very short zip to the rear, to which you can anchor the trousers. Mystifyingly, there is no 360° connecting zip on the jacket (only a short one). A massive omission in my view, as I generally run leather pants with textile jackets as an option. I also think that the longer zip fastening provides more integrity and reassurance from a safety perspective.
The trousers do feature a reverse bib that partially runs up your back and includes integrated braces. I do like this feature as I wear braces on all of my riding trousers – even when tops and bottoms are zipped together – and the arrangement on the Discovery trousers works very well indeed. This feature can be zipped off, leaving a short rear zip to attach to the Voyager 3C jacket.
The trousers do feature a 360 zip, but it’s is no help with this combo.
Adjustment
This suit does actually fit me quite well, besides the leg length, and while snug on the upper, I have had to adjust the legs to take up the larger sized trouser. Here adjustable press stud bands pinch in the trouser leg perfectly around the calf; it’s nice and easy and not too fussy.
As with previous reviews, I think Furygan seem to have omitted any consideration around typical UK body sizes. Most bikers are all shapes and sizes so comfort and fit and of course safely fitting what is PPE, is critical. I think it’s a huge oversight to force generic sizing on the buyer for this type of clothing, in this price range.
With my boots inside the textile trousers, and gloves inside the sleeves of the jacket, everything comfortably fits and moves well and there are zero issues around air leakage and major drafts.
The jacket has reasonable adjustment options via a pair of waist straps (at belt level), a Velcro-adjustable strap each side of the bottom tail of the jacket and two press-stud strap adjusters on each arm. At the cuff, a Velcro strap provides a quick, easy and comfortable seal with your gloves; both gauntlet and short.
The trousers come with three individual, adjustable press-stud straps per leg and zipped ankles for easy boot access. While the fly is not the open type, there is a zipper and two stud waist fasteners. There is some Velcro adjustment on the waist and the useful inclusion of belt loops.
Ventilation
I’ll start by saying that this combination of jacket and pants is very cool. It feels light, but even on a ride in temperatures of 14-15 degrees, it can be a little chilly, especially in colder or stronger winds. I found this okay, but some riders may elect to use the removable liner or more layers in spring / autumn. All my other kit was comfortable with the liners out in similar conditions.
The big advantage here though is that the Furygan Voyager jacket and Discovery trousers definitely suit riding in hot weather. The real winner is the light construction and ventilation system; the best experience I can equate it to is wearing your favourite light textile gloves on a really hot day. The suit felt so airy and light that I began to feel nervous about its resilience if I came off. I’m sure that’s misguided, but the combined suit is a real step forward from traditionally heavy textiles.
Warmth and thermal liner
I’m struggling with the thermal liner as the jacket becomes too tight with it in. It’s not that it’s overly bulky, but as you’ve probably gathered, Furygan had a more svelte rider in mind when designing this.
If you’re going to be using this a lot in cold weather, just make sure you can add an extra layer along with the thermal liner, or that any heated kit you own fits.
Waterproofing
Furygan state that this jacket is waterproof and breathable thanks to its three-layer laminated outer material. Sadly, it isn’t.
In a real world test, I found that the jacket was a fairly quick to fail in heavy rain, lasting around 30 minutes. In light rain, the fabric initially resists wetting, but as the moisture builds the outer layer of the fabric begins to absorb the water. This continues as the rain gets heavier. The fairly light construction resists the typical heaviness that most textile jackets build up. However, and oddly, the whole of the front left side became damp inside, with visible moisture making its way through. The sleeves felt damp as did my legs, with my seat and crotch feeling very cold as the rain increased. Overall, the trousers seemed to fare better and no noticeable water made it through. Although without the liner it didn’t feel entire comfortable and very cold around the crotch area
This kit is good in a shower as it’s quick drying and fairly lightweight, but would not be my choice for a persistent day of heavy rain.
Three alternatives to the Furygan Voyager jacket and discovery trousers
There’s plenty of choice at this price range, so here are some others to consider…
- The Lindstrands Sunne is a little dearer than the Furygan, but it really did impress our reviewer with its performance.
- A benchmark in value-packed riding kit, the Oxford Hinterland has outstanding waterproofing and very effective venting.
- The Dainese Tempest 3 is a similar price and uses the fairly effective laminated Dainese D-Dry waterproof system.
These are just three of many alternatives – you can find all the textiles we’ve tested here and be sure to regularly check for the discounts available through Bikesocial membership.
Furygan Voyager 3C review: Verdict
The Furygan Voyager 3C jacket and Discovery trousers find themselves at the higher end of the mid-price category of the motorcycle textiles market. They are impressively comfortable in summer mode, yet still slightly bulky with the liners in, without possibly providing that deeper winter insulation that will be needed as the clocks go back.
The use of D3O armour is welcome, although the kit doesn’t come complete with a back protector, while the sizing options could compromise how the armour sits.
The adjustment and pocket options are excellent, but the wet-weather riding capabilities found in use are not in keeping with this price level. Still, the sheer comfort-based joy of wearing the suit in summer almost makes up for it.
