I have a Vetter Rainy Day Fender and would really like to know the history behind it. The one I have was first purchased and installed on a 1974 R90/6 in 1974. It has reflective striping that matches the Vetter Fairing that was bought at the same time. The fairing was discussed on this forum in the thread titled
A call for Vetter Serial Numbers. It is the fairing with the S/N 9873, which Craig has identified as the #1 Test Fairing for Windjammer2. Here are some pictures of my bike:
The bike when it was still in storage:
The fender cleaned up a bit, and showing the flared tip at the rear:
The front tip of the fender:
The fender edge welt as it is radiused to clear the forks. Also note the gap in the striping where it passes behind the fork legs:
Underneath the front tip, and still carrying some vintage dirt. Note that the edge welt is wrapped and tightly bonded to the fender around the radius of the tip. From there, you can see the start of the rubberized channel to trap the water:
The rubber channel goes around the entire fender, except at the rear tip where it lets the water exit:
This fender was well-made, with quality materials. It is now about 41 years old and still in good condition. The rubber part is still soft and pliable. The plastic edge welt is still glossy, as is the fender itself. Part of the reason for this is that the bike was off the road for about 16 of those years. However, a lot of rubber parts elsewhere on the bike deteriorated considerably in the same time period.
Again, it would be great to know some history on this, like: When was it first developed? How many were sold? Was it widely accepted? Was it only for BMW, or were there similar fenders for other bikes?
Thanks for any info you can provide.
Ray