Ya know I've wondered for sometime now if Vetter sidecars are designed by or manufactured by Craig Vetter..??? I know that Craig was injured very badly in a motorcycle crash several years ago and spent nearly a year in a wheel chair. After spending so much time in that wheel chair he designed a new more usable kind of wheel chair. He also designed the Vetter fairing and saddle bags for Yamaha mototcycles. Guess I could go Google this now that I think about it.
Met Craig at a motorcycle rally in Colorado Spgs, CO too many years ago. Sat down and had a very interesting 30-40 minute conversation with him. He had some great ideas back then...but you might say he was the Edsel Ford, Henry Studebaker or Preston Tucker of motorcycling, ahead of his time.
Was just wondering if anybody might know..????
o~o
Per Craig Vetter from his website, "I made about four prototypes between 1973-5 and abandoned the project. The new owner of Vetter ressurected the Terraplane and made about a thousand."
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Originally written by Bob Madigan on 12/26/2007 2:36 PM
Per Craig Vetter from his website, "I made about four prototypes between 1973-5 and abandoned the project. The new owner of Vetter ressurected the Terraplane and made about a thousand."
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Thanks Bob,
I knew somebody here would have the answer pretty quick. Ah-h-h-h, the "Mystery Ship". He gave the original (proto type) of what I'd call today the FIRST crotch rocket away at that rally but I dang sure thought it was before 1980. Thanks for the heads up on Craig's website. I've been crus'n thru it, alot of memories.
o~o
Craig sold the company in about 1980 to his banker who ran it until about 1983 and went into bankruptcy.
Craig did actually do the design work on the Windjammer fairings, lowers and luggage. The Cycle Sound radio unit was created by a friend of his and later copied without permission and sold under the name Vetter Sound. Craig also designed the short lived Harley Liberator fairing. In about 1978 the factory was destroyed by fire along with the molds used to make the Windjammers and Liberators.
Dean Wixom designed the fork mount Harley fairing that is still seen today. That had no connection with Vetter.
Other fairings produced under the Vetter brand name were the Rooster, Quicksilver and one other. Craig designed the Quicksilver for smaller. lighter bikes but most were made after he sold the company.
Only 10 Mystery Ships were made and sold. One recently sold on Ebay for nearly 40 grand. It had documentation identifying it as 1 of 2 owned by Malcolm Forbes. Craig also did a cafe racer design for Triumph that was produced for a couple of years. His products changed the face of motorcycling and his name is still well known in motorcycling circles.
Incidentally, The Windjammer will not fit a V-Star. The forks are too wide. Do not ask how I know this. The internal opening in the mount is 10 1/2" the V-Star forks are 12". If you get interested in owning one I can supply a Windjammer SS with lowers and radio setup for a reasonable price.
Here is our old 1984 GL1200 Vetter conversion; with Vetter Terraplane sidecar, Vetter fairing, Vetter saddlebags and Vetter Tourpack.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
Originally written by Hack'n on 12/31/2007 12:07 PM
Here is our old 1984 GL1200 Vetter conversion; with Vetter Terraplane sidecar, Vetter fairing, Vetter saddlebags and Vetter Tourpack.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
Now, that is a good look'n ride. What really caught my fancy was the old sidecar off to the right. What is that ???
o~o
Funny that you brought up Studebaker icw Vetter and Sidecars.
A company by the name of Studebaker was making Vetter style sidecars for a while a few years ago and also went out of business. I have wondered what happend to them as well.
That's our shop mascot that's our logo pic. I repainted it for our new Boise shop.
It was previously mounted on an Indian (which explains the homemade fender skirt) and was destined for mounting to a restored 1924 Harley but proved too far gone to be restored. Ergo: Shop entry sculpture.
Looks like this now with a Prickly Pear cactus for a monkey.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
The Studebaker Terraplane looked the same except for an automotive wheel and tire and priced at $3,995. The Rosalia, Washington company went out of business a few years back and the excess molds, frames and parts inventory were sold off for cheap. Asking price was $18K at the time. I believe a Kansas buyer ended up with the stuff but hasn't gone into production to my knowledge.
There was a Limey Co. in the past that was selling turnkey combos that were comprised of refurbished Jap bikes with a Terraplane sidecar attached. I thought they might buy the company but perhaps the logistics proved too pricey to be viable for them.
I was too old to be interested in manufacturing so we passed.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
