Five of the new Challengers met at the AMA Hall of Fame Inductions in Las Vegas to check out the possibilities. First, we displayed our machines Saturday at the David Mungenast Memorial Concours.

Lots could go wrong. We thought we'd open in prayer, asking for the Lord's Grace.

It seems the faster the bikes go, the more stable it is. I did notice a side wind from Prim to the base of Mountain Pass. The bike was stable, but I learned to lean into the side winds a good bit. With my new gearing, I calculate that at 70 mph I'm at 2850 rpm. My new torque peak is at 3000 rpm."

As far as my streamliner protecting me from the elements, the current configuration has my hands and feet exposed to the wind. During nice weather this is not a problem since the rest of me is well protected. The ride home from Las Vegas was in heavy rain and strong wind for over an hour before crossing the mountain pass. At the mountain pass the air temperature was 37 degrees (F), my gloves and boots were soaked so my hands and feet froze. The rest of me was comfortable. That is one reason that I need to up-grade the front of my streamliner this winter. Also none of my gear got wet in the new tail during the heavy rain.

For next year’s competition I want to try even taller gearing and improve the aerodynamics of the front (get the hands and feet out of the wind). If I can afford it I would like to have someone look at my engine to see if any improvements can be made. My goal is to average over 100 MPG next summer in day-to-day riding, which means cruising 70 MPH on the freeway not 55. I think I will have a busy winter."

Engine coolant temperature settled at 143 F after 15 minutes of riding at 70 mph. It peaked at as 155 F going uphill against head wind.

Fred Hayes, the bike's owner and builder adds: "The Street Fighter had a new modification to the air box and intake manifold, and had taller gearing over what we had at Quail. The engine is tuned for max hp, not fuel mileage. The same as was Dale's during Mid Ohio. The fuel mileage actually seems better with performance engines. Obviously, Joshua was totally exposed."

I had no trouble running at the speed limit except for the first 4,000 foot mountain pass when we were also running into a pretty good headwind. My Helix slowed to 67 mph for a few minutes. Even so, I passed some cars that could not go as fast as I could. It is encouraging that we finished the run in the same order as in previous events. In every Challenge, Alan's 250 Ninja does just a little better than me. It goes faster, too. And now, because of his new tail, he can carry four bags of groceries well enough to please Mrs. Smith.

70 mph is 6,600 RPM because the engine is slowed down with Jan Vos gearing. My little 16 hp Helix scooter does really good... but not good enough to win my own Challenge."

Carol Vetter, following Vic in the car said: "It was scarey to ride behind Vic"

My 550cc Vision ( 62 hp) had plenty of power to easily maintain the 70- 75 mph cruising speeds including the climbs up the passes and the 80+ mph runs to catch up with the group.

My fairing provided good protection from the wind with only my helmet, hands and feet exposed. I was quite comfortable during the ride.

Compared to the 2001 Quail Run, my bike improved from - 56 mpg to 62 mpg on a faster, uphill ride with cold and windy conditions. I’m pleased I was able to significantly improve the efficiency of my bike but the performance gap between me and my friends indicate that my bike is too large, and produces too much power to compete with 250s and the diesel bikes. I need to get a smaller bike and streamline it to start getting competitive. I will probably do a little more work on my Vision to achieve a 70 mpg tank fill but I plan on looking for a new Vetter Challenge bike.

Thanks for a great time, I loved every minute of it. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. I am blessed to have friends like you.

Garth has been following our progress on the internet and is already involved in fuel economy in the Seattle area. He stopped by to help out. We welcome like-minded folks like Garth and will do what we can to support him. This meeting may lead to a Vetter-style Challenge in the North West.

We certainly hope so. Garth followed along all the way to Barstow to get the beautiful pics of us riding - above. Thank you, Garth. He also mentioned that he counted at least 3 people speeding ahead, stopping their cars and scrambling out to take pictures of you all riding streamliners. Still more were taking pictures from their vehicles or pacing the group to stare and discuss. Garth was on top of his car to take this one:

On November 20, 2011, it was easy. No rain. No snow. No awful side winds coming from this way and then that. Not much traffic. It was easy, beautiful and fun. Locals say that what we experienced Sunday was pretty much the norm for this time of year.

I am thinking it can work. The AMA has announced that it will have its Hall of Fame inductions in Las Vegas again in 2012. I am thinking that if the weather looks safe, we can and should hold the Final Vetter Challenge for the year between Las Vegas and Barstow.

Your thoughts?

3 out of 4 gallons of fuel we burn is imported. This is making us poor and them rich. Some of these people are using money that was once in our pocket to kill us. All we have to do is turn our 40 mpg vehicles into 160 mpg vehicles and these problems would be solved. Charly Perethian and Fred Hayes are almost there.

Thank you, Charly. Thank you, Fred.

I also thank all the new fuel economy pioneers.

America is great and will remain great because of people like you.