Vetter on a 2009 V Star

[Midnitmike]

I spent a few hours this last week building a mount for an old Vetter that I picked this spring.

While it's a pretty close fit and might actually be serviceable I've decided that there are just too many differences between these more modern bikes and their predecessors that Craig used as the foundation for his design. The foam board that you see in the background will be used as the form for my interpretation of a vetter fairing. I'll use the newly fabricated mount to hold everything in place temporarily but ultimately it too will be replaced.

 

[Scott-E]

It'll look a lot better with a short windshield. As a matter of fact it will take on an entirely different look. Cutting the windshield down must be done anyway. When you measure it for cutting you want the top of the windshield just below your line of sight. I sat on my Bike with my WJ 4 mounted with a level pressed to my lips so the top of the windshield would be level with my mouth. The windshield ended up being just 14 inches high in the centre of the shield. The windshield ends up being that short due to the low seat design of Cruiser Motorcycles. Before you decide not to use it cut down that old windshield and then look at it again. You will be very surprised at how it looks more like a Batwing Fairing. Also take the bike out for a ride with that Windjammer on it. As soon as you do that you'll quickly understand why people liked them so much. Personally I think your bike will look great with that Windjammer on it after you replace that cloudy windshield cut down to the proper short height and install the leading edge lights.

Below is a picture of my modern Honda Shadow Cruiser with a Windjammer.

 

[Larry Fine]

Personally I think your bike will look great with that Windjammer on it . . .

Agreed. Several of us, including myself, have mounted WJ's on later model bikes. We can help, starting with the rule of thumb that the plane of the windshield should be parallel with the plane of the forks.

 

[Midnitmike]

Hi Scott,
Yeah I'd already determined that the windshield had to be cut down about four inches, but that really didn't factor into my decision all that much. I think what bothered me the most was my inability to bring the fairing back far enough. A lot of the bikes of that era had a bar mounted instrument cluster and I assume Craig had to take this into account when he was designing the fairing. Today a lot of cruisers have a rather simple tank mount instrument group and this left me with a big gap forward of the bars.

As you can see here I've already cut away the interior walls of the fairing to make room for the tank. Even with that the design of the fairing won't allow me to bring it back any further than I already have. In the end what I'd like to have is the headlight situated just slightly above the stock version, but in almost the same vertical plane. And the fairing itself should sort of wrap around the tank giving me easier access to the storage compartments on either side. Right now they look like they're in another postal zone.

 

[Midnitmike]

Using the mount I built for the Vetter as a support I've started blocking out the shape in foam.

I kind of like having a clean slate to start with...the design possibilities are endless! I'll add more pics as I go along.

 

[Larry Fine]

...the design possibilities are endless!

 

[Kynan C.]

Very, very, cool!