Interchangeability of Vetter Components

About Vetter fairings: Vetter Corporation made Windjammer and Vindicator fairings. In addition, the company made fairings for Kawasaki which were essentially Vindicator fairings. All these fairings accept the same windshield, the same lowers and will fit on any Vetter hardware.

All Windjammer/ Vindicator/ Kawasaki fairings were the essentially same... only the hardware was different for different bikes

Quicksilver Fairings used their own hardware, not the same as Windjammers

All Quicksilver fairings were the essentially same... only the hardware was different


Much frustration exists concerning Vetter mounting brackets:

I will try to straighten things out. For the fourteen year period that Windjammers were made, the mounting area on the fairing stayed the same. That means that a bracket made for a 1971 BMW for the first Windjammer of 1971 will accept the last Windjammer made in 1982.

Because motorcycle manufacturers would make subtle changes in their frames, a bracket for a 1975 bike might not fit a 1976 version of the same bike. When you search for a bracket to fit your bike - EBAY being the easiest place to find Vetter mounting brackets - it is safest to stay with your year and model.

Only the most popular brackets like CB750 or GL1000 had names stamped into them. This means most brackets have no identifying marks whatsoever. This is frustrating because there is no way to identify a bracket once it is away from its bike.

There were no drawings made of the brackets. The first bracket was made on a motorcycle, painted orange (to identify them as "Master Parts" ) and a jig was made from it. Then production brackets were made from that jig. As batches of, say, 1978 CX500 brackets were produced, they were packed in boxes with the rest of the parts that made up a kit. After that, there was no way to identify that bracket.

I told you it was frustrating.

The solution? Buy the bracket that came off the bike you want. Or, you can make your own bracket. People are beginning to do just this - putting Windjammers on current bikes. Perhaps one of you will start a tidy little business producing brackets to put Windjammers on bikes. There is a need.

***************************************************

Windjammer, Vindicator & Kawasaki brackets: All Windjammers (and Vindicator fairings and Kawasaki fairings) used the same hardware and windshields. "Kawasaki Fairings" are Vindicator fairings that are color-matched. Kawasaki Fairings' serial numbers began with K32. In other words, any Windjammer or Vindicator or Kawasaki (made by Vetter) fairing will fit any bike with a Vetter Windjammer bracket on it. Any Vetter Windjammer windshield will fit any of these fairings.

Vindicator and Kawasaki Fairings were made in Windjammer tooling without the Leading Edge Lights. Thus we were able to sell them for less money. This meant that special, additional Vindicator turn signal mounts - steel stampings - were needed to install the bike's original turn signals. We have acquired a number of NOS (New Old Stock) Vindicator'Kawasaki turn signal mounts. See them on our Company Store Page.

In the 1970s, many fairing companies appeared. Most copied the Windjammer, adding a little bump here and there. All used Vetter-style hardware, not bothering to make their own mounting brackets. They simply directed their customer to us for brackets. There are a lot of Vetter brackets out there.

As far as I know, the last Windjammer hardware was produced sometime in the early 80s. Hardware can be found on EBAY. Just type in Vetter. There is no reason that a Windjammer could not be fitted to any modern motorcycle. If you like, I'll publish mounting guidelines.

***************************************************

Quicksilver brackets: Are different from the above line of fairings. The Quicksilver was a smaller fairing, made mostly for 400cc sized bikes. But, each bracket was made specifically for a particular year and make motorcycle. There is no Interchangeability between bikes. To be safe, see the bracket on the bike you think you are buying it for..

***************************************************

Rooster, Windstar, Sting fairings: I know nothing about those fairings since they were designed by somebody else and made after I sold the company.


About windshields: All Windjammer, Vetter-made Kawasaki fairings and Vindicator windshields had the same outside shape. However, beginning September, 1977, the two top holes were not drilled. Instead, special "Windshield Clips" secured the top of the windshields. You should use only clipped windshields, no matter what year.


Saddle Bag mounting from the 1979 Vetter Catalog

Please note that the id numbers to the left were "ordering numbers" and never used on the parts themselves. I include this image because it lets you know which brackets were actually produced by the company.


Comments about Windjammer Fairing Lowers:
Windjammer Lowers: Every Windjammer can be fitted with lowers. The first series Windjammer was not drilled for them, however. To fit lowers to those fairings, simply hold up a set of lowers, mark the hole location and drill 3/8" holes (4 on each side).

From Windjammer II up, all came with the holes drilled but plugged with plastic caps. To install lowers, pop off the caps and press in the rubber Lowers Mounting nuts in the kit.

After 20 or so years, the rubber in those kits has gotton hard and no longer expands properly. You will probably need these newly made Lowers Mounting Kit

What Lowers fit what:

Lowers were made specifically to fit the various popular motorcycles. Today, EBAY is the only source of Lowers. Type in Vetter and eventually, what you want will show up. You must be careful to buy the ones made for your year and brand. All Windjammer, Vindicator, and Kawasaki-by-Vetter fairings will accept any lowers made*.

According to Vetter Catalogs, the following lowers fit the following bikes:

Type 1: Fits pre 1979 Honda GL1000s and 1977 CB400F

Type 2: Honda CB750A; 1977-8 CB750K; Suzuki GS400X; GS550E; GS750E, L & Yamaha XS11, Special

Type 3: 1977-8 Honda CB750F; 1978-79 Kawasaki KZ650; Custom, KZ900, KZ1000, Std & LTD, MKII, 79 Suz GS 850 - 1000, EL

Type 4: Honda CB 550F, CB550K, CB650, Kaw KZ750; Yamaha XS360, 400, 500, 650, 650 Special, 750 and 750 Special

Type 5: 1975-6 Honda CB750F, 750K

Type 6: 1977-79 BMW/7

Type 9: Honda CX500, 78, 79. 80.

Type 10: CB750 K, L ,F, 1979-80

Windjammer 5

The Windjammer 5 was contoured slightly differently. Lowers made for previous Windjammers will not fit Windjammer 5 and vice versa

From "Windjammer V Lowers Mounting Instructions" dated 12-12-80:


Type 51: Honda GL1100

Type 52: Honda CB900 1980, CB750F, K, C 1979-1980

Type 53: Kawasaki KZ1000, MKII, ST

Type 54: Suzuki 550LX, 850GX, Yamaha XS1100

Type 55: Honda CX500, Custom, Deluxe

Type 56: Suzuki GS1100, GS750

*Only special Windjammer 5 Lowers fit the Windjammer 5. I suggest you stay away from this fairing if you will want Lowers.

More notes on Lowers:

(keep in mind that Windjammer 5 Lowers fit only Windjammer 5).

All lowers were made from the same forward portion and the same rearward portion of plastic.

The front and rear were glued together in different positions and at different angles for different bikes

Further, they were trimmed differently for different models. Further more, the holes were drilled in different locations for the different model, thus the large embossed section where the holes are drilled.

This is why it is so important to locate the right lowers for your year and model.

Updated Nov 10 , 2008
craig@craigvetter.com
HOME