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| Page two, Vetter Owners First: Three Prototype Vetter Lowers I struggled to design Lowers that would fit all bikes. Below are some of my first experiments: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974 Dan Kalbach in Georgia |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location is Southern Georgia, June of 1974 taken by my new bride of me and our scoot. The scoot is a 72 Honda 500 four, he lowers were originally sold to be used on a Honda 750, and I modified them by building a little blister and rolled opening to accomodate the sidestand, faired-in the sidestand mounting bracket, and of course the NACA ducts, which are not visible in this photo. All I have left of this combo is "the bride". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The "Panniers" were 50 Cal ammo cans mounted to welded-up cradles, and secured with a leather strap buckle arrangement ala the hood straps on vintage race cars. These survived 22,000 miles worth of trips from Iowa to South Florida, Texas, Mexico City, Big Sur, Washington, Canada, etc. Unlike my vaunted Krausers on the Beemer, these never leaked a drop, and saved my ol' 64' Nikon F from a dismal death in Northern Light Lake in Ontario (canoe capsized). These baby's would actually hiss when you opened them after a day of traveling that involved an altitude change! They weren't big - but like your fairing, you could really pack "stuff" in them. Dan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1973 California Desert | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Your designer's bike, enroute from LA to Daytona. I don't remember making more than a couple of lowers like this. Every one is probably on this page. I could not figure out how to make one shape fit all bikes. so,I ended up making lowers of two pieces per side, each glued together a little differently so as to fit each bike perfectly. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This style lower lacked the best part of the eventual design, which was the engine hugging inner rear section which kept water off my legs while "Ramming" more air around the cylinders. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | 1973 Prototype lowers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hi Craig!! I promised to send ya' some pictures after I got my '76 R90/6 done. We had discussed the old early '70's lowers (I got them off of Ebay), that you'd been looking at also. This bikes been done for a while now, and I'm sorry for being remiss and not sending you pictures sooner. I'm actually selling it now. Need garage space. Too many toys(If that's even really possible). Best Regards, Bob Seidler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I am astonished that such obscure Vetter designs have survived! Here are early lowers cut out for the BMW. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rod Coates, winner of Daytona, 1950 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rod bought the first Series 1600 fairing I ever sold. This picture was on a 1970 Christmas card from Rod and Margie Coates. Rod had been the service manager for Triumph East. They racked up a lot of miles on that Trident. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Ben Harroll, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Remember the Honda Four Owners' Club? Ben Harroll was their ambassador. We supplied him with a Series 1700 Phantom 4 fairing for his tours around the United States. Ben now operates a Museum of Private Detectives in San Diego. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| George Monroe, June 1971 This is a great story. No sooner did I get back to my shop in Illinois from Aspen on my Kawasaki 500 when a fellow named George Monroe rode in looking for a fairing. I wanted to put a Series 2500 on his bike but once he saw the Windjammer on my Kawasaki, he had to have it. I took it off and had it polished the bugs off it and installed a new windshield for him. We made mounts and put my Windjammer on his BMW. We got these pictures and he headed West happy. I had to make another Windjammer for myself. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Left: Lee Sutton's Honda 750 in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I don't know what I would do without your web page, Ebay and Honda. Notice the trick tailights from a truck supply they are LEDs the work neat." Lee Now a year later in 2009, take a look at what Lee has done. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hello Craig I wanted to send you some pics of my '75 Wing. And yes those are the same fairing sadlebags and box I had on my 750 they have been painted to match my Wing. Candy Anterus Red, This bike only has 18,000 miles on it. Lee I (Vetter) must make some comments here. This fine shot clearly shows the major difference between the previous Windjammer SS and 4. The Windjammer 5 has a mask around its headlight. In addition, the belly has been flattened out - a feature clearly visible in this shot. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genuine Graphics Kits would enhance this machine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Note: The chrome strip at the bottom of the windshield is not a Vetter product. I think it was J.C Whitney The flat bottom on the Windjammer 5 is responsible for the difference in the Lowers which had to be changed to fit. I had a very good reason for this change. I was developing the Windjammer 6 which were a bit more angular. I wanted you to get used to what was coming. I sold the company in 1978 and was asked to continue to work on improved Windjammer designs. Unfortunately, the new owner put the company into bankruptcy in Jan. 1983. Work on these new Windjammers was terminated. Nobody has ever seen the Windjammer 6 or 7. Fortunately, I documented the projects and will show them in the future. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This Page posted Apl 20, 2008 Updated April 10, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
