This painting, "Where Motorcycle Dreams Were Made" was commissioned to honor some of the people who were so significant to my company. I want to take a moment to tell you about them.

Jim Miller

Jim was a fellow student of Industrial Design at the University of Illinois. Even as a student, Jim was always there to help me and to discuss ideas for the future. We spent hours in 1966 saying "Vetter Design Works" over and over, trying to decide if it would be a good name. In 1970, Jim said,

Of course, he was right. How much of the Windjammer's success was the result of that name?

After we sold the company in 1978, Jim and I collaborated again to make "Equalizer Human Powered Wheelchairs" and later yet, "Winged Wheels of America" . The fact is, we had learned to count on each other. In 1999, Jim was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He died in April, 2001. I dedicate this painting to his memory.

Jim was my best friend. I sure miss him.

Henry Tate

Henry rode into my life on his sand-cast Honda 750 in September 1971. He was a mechanic at Bob Schultz's shop in St. Louis and wanted to buy one of my new Series 1700 fairings. Nobody even knew I had such a fairing.

Henry rode a lot and was the kind of man to have a prototype fairing. While I was putting it on for him, I told him about a shifting problem I was having with my blue tanked 1971 H1. He made a totally unexpected offer:

And without a hesitation, he got on the floor and went to work. In a half an hour, my Kawasaki was scattered all over the floor. In another 15 minutes, he had fixed it.

This was my introduction to Henry Tate and my first experience with a real motorcycle mechanic. I was so impressed with Henry, I hired him on the spot. I had never met anybody like this!

Henry went on to design and build everything in our growing fairing company... the jigs and fixtures, the heating system, the air system. Henry, often simply known as "H" could and would do anything. After I sold the company and the original people began to scatter, H went on to sail around the Pacific on a little sailboat with his brother. Eventually, he settled down with his wife, Pam and became the Chief Engineer for ZAP Scooters in Sebastapol, CA.

H still works with me on special projects.

How could I have ever have built Vetter without Henry?

Tim Ridgeway

By the Spring of 1970, Jim needed a full time helper. I remember Jim deliberating over the possible applicants. "I have a good feeling about this Tim guy", he said. And so, Tim Ridgeway became our first real employee. Unexcitable, calm, consistant, cool, reliable are all words that I think of when recalling Tim.

Tim learned quickly how to make Phantom fairings. He concocted special polishes with Kiwi shoe polish and black ink that made those fariings gleam. Tim had the patience to do what had to be done.

Fortunately for us, Tim was able to grow with the company. He was still there in 1978, a valuable part of the team.

I see Tim once in a while when I visit Rantoul. It is amazing how little he has changed. Thank you Tim for your quiet steadiness. You were a big part of our company.

Duane Anderson

Duane is another University of Illinois school buddy. He was riding a Honda 250 Super Hawk in 1964... the first one I had ever seen.

In 1965, it was Duane who demonstrated to me that you could actually ride cross-country on a motorcycle! I had driven my dad's Comet station wagon to the Aspen Design Conference only to discover that Duane had ridden there there on his Yamaha 250. This opened my eyes! Certainly Duane must take some responsibility for my career in motorcycling. Thank you Duane.

Like Jim and my brother Bruce, Duane was always there to help make those first fairings. Sometimes all I could do was to pay these guys in food. Duane always had his camera with him and took many of those early pictures of us making fairings. Later, Duane and I raced in scrambles together in Illinois.

It was Duane who helped me construct the Vetter Rocket Three. He did all the metal work. There is a funny picture of him holding up the exhaust pipes on page 41 of the book, "A Hurricane Named Vetter".

Duane lives in California with his wife, Barbara and works as a designer for Rifle Fairings which is made up of more ex - fairingwrights. Now, as then, Duane always seems to have an interesting motorcycle project in process.

Carol Lumkes

Carol came to work for me from the suburbs of Chicago in the summer of 1972. We all rode motorcycles and pretty soon, she wanted to ride too. Carol bought her own Honda 500 Four. It made her mother cry.

Even though Carol began in the Windjammer finishing line, it wasn't long before her love of people and personable manners caught the attention of the office staff. We learned very quickly that Carol had a way with people, especially Vetter Dealers. Soon, she was in charge of Dealer Development. Carol began riding the shop R-75 BMW to rallies and tradeshows. Even Sturgis. Every dealer, it seemed, knew Carol. And Carol knew every dealer.

Most meaningful for me, however, is the fact that Carol married me in 1977 and is the mother of our two boys, Zak, and Morgan. Carol has been involved with every level of our boys' schooling and our church, serving as President of their grade school's Parent Board and a Parent Board Member at their highschool. She is an Elder at our church and a member of our choir.

We look forward to the changes and freedoms that our adult children will bring as we both attend various motorcycle events to add what we can to our industry.

Craig Vetter

I am a designer and inventor that loves motorcycles. When I discovered travelling cross-country on my Yamaha 250, I assumed that everyone would want to do it too.

So, it was logical to me that I should design and invent things that would make motorcycles better transportation. I have been blessed with more confidence than ten ordinary men. But, from the little stories on this page, you can see that I could have never done it by myself. Fortunately, my co-workers believed in me and were willing to follow me into the future.

Sometimes it is hard to fathom the fact that my career in building Vetter Corporation lasted only eleven years. We did so much! But by 1977, I had done most of what I wanted to do and when the opportunity to sell the company (s), I knew it was time.

Like most Baby Boomers at that time, I wanted to get married and raise a family. For Carol and me, it was the most wonderful part of our lives - and our Vetter days were unbelievably wonderful.

Motorcycles can "Do more with less". That is why I love them. My happiest moments were riding cross-country, trying to figure out how to fix the problems of a particular fairing. Today, I'm back designing new two-wheelers. Stay tuned to this web page.

John Doyle

Remember the story of Henry Tate, above? Within a year H had become totally overwhelmed with work. I asked him if he knew anybody else like him we could hire. There was, John Doyle, another mechanic at Bob Schultz's, he said. In 1972, we hired John. Sorry, Bob.

John came with formal engineering skills. Unlike any of us, John could actually "calculate". It wasn't long before he became our first engineer and then head of Engineering.

John assembled a team of wonderfully competent "engineer-fabricators" who, like Henry, could and would make anything. Their job was to take my prototype fairing and made it real. They made the molds... made the machines to form the shells... to align the parts in assembly... to drill the holes... to test fairings even before they were on the road. They spec'd out the buildings, too! These men were all ex - motorcycle mechanics. They had a feel for what belonged on a motorcycle. And they respected John.

Vetter was doubling every year and, by 1976, we needed another 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space. I found it in a big, empty building in San Luis Obispo, California and bought it. John volunteered to lead a core group of adventurers from Rantoul and colonize the area and soon we had a West Coast Manufacturing facility.

John still lives in San Luis Obispo, still a manager for the various companies that need his special skills and is a partner in Rifle Fairings.

Bruce Vetter

As kids, I made model airplane while my younger brother, Bruce, made things of leather. Knife sheathes, and little bags laced in latigo. As an adult in the 60s, Bruce was there to help me make hardware for my first fairings, but his heart wasn't in it. He really liked to work in leather. For a while he drifted away, making and selling "Peace Symbols", hand punched out of thick horsebelly.

All that changed in the early 70s with the Windjammer because it was full of parts that only Bruce could make. At first, he die cut the foam tape for the windshields. Then he made the tonneau covers, then tank bags, cycle covers and "Hippo Hands". If it was sewn, Bruce made it. As my company grew, Bruce's company grew with it. He was always there to be sure his parts fit correctly. That is what he is doing in the painting above. Brother Bruce sets very high standards for himself. The Windjammer reflected those standards

Things changed for everybody at the end of 1978 when I sold Vetter. For Bruce, it meant going into business for himself. He formed the "Bagman" company and began developing his own line of soft luggage.

Today, Bruce lives with his wife, Kelly in Homer, Illinois, about 20 miles south of the old Vetter plants. He is now a major supplier to the Motor Company, Harley - Davidson, making leather saddlebags and latigo laced tank strips. His is a family business with his wife, daughter and son -in-law involved. Does this sound like a happy man?

www.brucevetter.com

I can tell from his stories, that Harley-Davidson loves Bruce, as I do, like a brother.

Charly Perethian

In 1972, I got a letter from a design student who was graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design. His name was Charly Perethian. He included a picture of a pretty green Honda 350 he had modified. Charly wanted to work with me.

His timing was perfect. I was about to begin work on redesigning the high frame Triumph Bonneville and would be needing help. My time was more and more being consumed in meetings and trips. Charly fit right in. It was great to have another designer - who also loved motorcycles - to help.

Charly and I learned how to work with each other. I could count on him to clearly understand what we were trying to do and to turn those ideas into reality, whether I was there or not. It wasn't long before Charly was in charge of his own team of assistants. Charly made most of the Triumph Bonneville TT bike which is on exhibit at the AMA's Hall of Fame Museum. Parts of that bike became the Triumph T-160.

After I sold Vetter, Charly went off to co-found the Rifle Fairing Company to build fairings of his own design. In the 80s, he got caught up in the enthusiasm of the Craig Vetter Fuel Economy contests wherin he lead the world's competitors, beating the best, eventually achieving an amazing 372 miles per gallon in 1983. His pretty little blue winning "Rifle" bullet shaped bike has been on exhibit in the Smithsonion for years.

Charly married another fairingwright, Brenda. Today they live in Georgia with their two boys, Max and Jessie. Charly is renowned for his "Parabellum" designs for BMW motorcycles.

www.parabellum.com

Note Charly's calf bag for carrying his rubber chickens.