The latest Vetter Fairing


Alan Smith

Grasshopper
Hi All,
I have one of the latest fairings that Craig Vetter designed. Hopefully you will find this fairing interesting. Some of the parts in the photo were prototype. This motorcycle has been a great touring bike and competition bike. I've ridden this motorcycle 3 times from California to Virginia and back. It now has just over 53,000 miles on it.

The aerodynamic tail is one huge trunk! Heavy gear like tools are stored in the nose. Cruising on the freeway at 70-75 MPH I usually get around 105 Miles-Per-Gallon. With the stock 4.8 gallon fuel tank I can ride 425-miles before I go on reserve. I usually don't push the gas tank past 450-miles.

Based on how well this one has worked I'm building a whole new Vetter designed bike. Craig Vetter has built new fiberglass molds for the next generation fairing. Hopefully it will be ready this summer.

AlanSmith_006.JPG
 

Kynan C.

Admin
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How cool! It's great to see a Streamliner on here. Welcome to the forum Alan! Thank you for sharing, looking forward to more.
 

Alan Smith

Grasshopper
How cool! It's great to see a Streamliner on here. Welcome to the forum Alan! Thank you for sharing, looking forward to more.

I'm glad there is interest with this Vetter designed fairing. Right now there are only a handful made. The streamliner photoed above uses a 2005 Ninja 250. With the Vetter streamlined fairing it is over powered with the stock 28 horse power. I can cruise 70-75 MPH all day on half throttle or less.

The next generation streamliner with the improved Vetter fairing uses a 2004 Ninja 250 is under construction. The new streamliner has a modified higher torque motor and stretched frame to lower the rider 11-inches.

Craig Vetter has set up a special place on his web site for this motorcycle.
http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/2014-streamliners/2014-Alan-Smith-2nd-Ninja-p69.html

Later,
Alan
 

brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
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Recently had a post on a GoldWing forum about streamliners and the concesus was that they are ugly... When the fuel mileage entered into the discussion, the looks no longer seemed to matter.
 

Alan Smith

Grasshopper
Yes streamlined motorcycles do stand out in a crowd. The overall shape is something most people are not used to seeing. At places like Stugis or other bike rallies it is easy to find in the parking lot. Streamlined motorcycles have been used on the Bonneville Salt Flats for years. I don't remember anyone ever thinking of them as ugly.

Yes when fuel economy comes into the discussion things change. Riding across the country coast-to-coast at freeway speeds I use only 25-29 gallons of gas. My wife's car uses almost that much for one fill up. That tank of gas in my wife's car only lasts a few weeks commuting in the area. So my wife can't complain that my cross country trips are so expensive. Once you pass the 100 Miles-Per-Gallon barrier it seems like the gas is almost free.

The other interesting aspect about this streamliner is that it is more comfortable than riding my Suzuki Bandit 1200 across the country. I've ridden my Bandit just over 101,000 miles. It has been coast-to-coast twice and many trips to Canada and the western states.
 

brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
Country flag
For the record Alan, I am not in the ugly camp... My dad has a Helix and he is in his mid 70's. I am waiting for him to say he is done with it so I can take it off of his hands. :D
 

brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
Country flag
He already gets 50 + mpg... I want to see just how much I can get with it. He has hit a few immovvable objects, so the plastic isn't in great shape, so it is a prime candidate for a slip-stream. Listening to Craig's interviews, and reading up on the subject, the sit down, step through frames seem to be good for it also, so why not.
 

Kynan C.

Admin
Country flag
Alan, again it is so cool to see a Streamliner on here. This is in-fact the Vetter owners group right? It's not just about the vintage side of Craig's inventions and designs. It is about everything Vetter. I hope that as time goes on more people will want to be part of the Streamline world. Craig has brought forward something that will go down in history, once again. If you have any desire to have your own categories on this forum highlighting Streamlining I am more then happy to compliment. I am even feeling the itch myself. :)
 

Alan Smith

Grasshopper
Your offer to set up a separate category for streamliners is most generous. If you did I probably could get a couple more people to post here with their Vetter streamliners. At this time there are very few Vetter streamliners our there so it might not be very active.
 

Kynan C.

Admin
Country flag
Alan,

I would be happy to do that. The lack of activity is just fine. It will grow as the forum itself grows. It's a great place to have focused information. I will keep you posted! Thank you for sharing with us.
 

Kynan C.

Admin
Country flag
Hi Alan,

There you go, you now have your own streamliner forum where you can share your progress and advancements. Please let me know if you would like something changed... wording, etc.

Looking forward to seeing more! I am actually looking into getting a Zero.
 

JeffM

Grasshopper
Hello Craig and Alan. Alan, great great to see a place for Streamliners and all things Vetter in your new forum. I keep checking for updates regarding Alan's new project and hopefully he will post up here.

Alan, as always, impressed with your work. I hope to see you and Vic again this year at Wendover. And of course, meet Craig for the first time.

Is there room here for my Vetter-esk Streamliner? I will post up in a new thread so Alan's can remain free of derails.

Take care Gentlemen.

Jeff
 

Kynan C.

Admin
Country flag
Welcome Jeff! Yes there is plenty of room for Vetter-esk Streamlines. I wonder if they should go here or in the Non-Vetter Bikes and Projects. Post it here for now, if it needs to be moved we can always move it. WAIT! Ill just change the name of the forum a bit. Yes, post in here. Perfect.

Haha, that was me thinking out loud. o_O
 

brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
Country flag
Hello Craig and Alan. Alan, great great to see a place for Streamliners and all things Vetter in your new forum. I keep checking for updates regarding Alan's new project and hopefully he will post up here.

Alan, as always, impressed with your work. I hope to see you and Vic again this year at Wendover. And of course, meet Craig for the first time.

Is there room here for my Vetter-esk Streamliner? I will post up in a new thread so Alan's can remain free of derails.

Take care Gentlemen.

Jeff

Welcome to the forum Jeff! I look forward to seeing what you have.
 

Alan Smith

Grasshopper
Hello Everyone! Sorry for my long silence. I've been very busy working on the next generation Vetter streamlined Ninja 250. This project is going much slower than expected. Once you start cutting the motorcycle frame (extending it to lower the rider 11-inches) nothing will ever fit again. I sit where the engine's stock air box used to be, 11-inches lower.

I had to build a new air box, custom extended swing arm, special exhaust to clear the center stand and side stand, mufflers, etc. Special cables and hydraulic lines also needed to be made. The modified wiring harness was no fun to build.

In the photo below you can see that the battery is now located below the radiator. The bottom of the radiator had to be moved 2-inches forward to clear some brackets.

The new all fiberglass turret and nose has been built. The mold for the new fiberglass back rest is almost compete. So the tail has a long way to go before it is finished.

The fuel tank still needs to be designed and built. Right now it looks like the fuel tank will mount along side the lower triple clamp and radiator area. Even the size of the fuel tanks are now known yet. I prefer two 1.5 gallon fuel tanks. Craig Vetter thinks larger fuel tanks should be built. Regardless I still want a fuel range more than 300-miles, that would be the duel 1.5 gallon gas tanks.

Sadly I don't think this bike will be finished in time for this summer's riding season. The summer riding season is fast approaching and I plan to do a lot of riding again. At least I still have my current Vetter streamlined Ninja 250 to ride.

upload_2014-5-8_21-37-49.jpeg

Photo shows the next generation streamlined Ninja 250 with all the aerodynamic bodywork removed.
 
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