The CB1100 Community Forum

Actually the bike has the whole '70's "Old Guy Rider" look down to a T. Back in the day that would have been a Windjammer fairing. Crash bars with highway pegs and a dozen 12vdc marker lights spread around the bike. This would have been an upscale version; the average Joe would have a milk crate out back instead of that fine leather luggage.

(10-11-2013, 12:59 AM)The Spaceman_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Actually the bike has the whole '70's "Old Guy Rider" look down to a T. Back in the day that would have been a Windjammer fairing. Crash bars with highway pegs and a dozen 12vdc marker lights spread around the bike. This would have been an upscale version; the average Joe would have a milk crate out back instead of that fine leather luggage.

You absolutely nailed it! I remember the look and couldn't think of the Windjammer name. Remember the milk crates too.

(10-11-2013, 12:59 AM)The Spaceman_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Actually the bike has the whole '70's "Old Guy Rider" look down to a T. Back in the day that would have been a Windjammer fairing. Crash bars with highway pegs and a dozen 12vdc marker lights spread around the bike. This would have been an upscale version; the average Joe would have a milk crate out back instead of that fine leather luggage.

I did the old milk create deal back in the day, wasn't the greatest looking, but very user friendly

Can you say Bat Cycle. Where is Adam West?

Pete C

(10-11-2013, 10:58 AM)petec_imp Wrote: [ -> ]

Pete C

AWKWARD!!!

Pete C - nice photobucket pics of the BRP.

for a trip down old-school-fairing memory lane, check this out:

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/vetter_..._made.html

(10-11-2013, 11:09 PM)CB4ME_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Pete C - nice photobucket pics of the BRP.

for a trip down old-school-fairing memory lane, check this out:

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/vetter_..._made.html

Thanks for the link...nice!

I did have a Windjammer on my '74 GT750 and it was brilliant; you could sit and have a smoke behind it running 70 mph.





I think I paid about $275 from a local dealer. It actually made the water-buffalo handle better as it loaded the front end just enough to overcome the too-stiff stock springs and damping, which was so common a problem on most 'big' bikes back of that era. I lived in MA then and rode all winter (bar any ice on the road) with just the 'jammer and a pair of HippoHands and a cheap snowmobile suit; all the heated gear we have now makes life so nice...

Anyhow, I wish they still made them. I had considered, at various times and on various naked bikes over the last few years, finding a nice used one on Ebay and having a set of mounting brackets welded up and using one again. When I got mine I thought the mounting method of 'hose-clamps-to-the-frame' was pretty rinky-dink but the engineering behind it was very sound (and also cost-effective re manufacturing) and well thought out. I had a chance to see the aftermath of one thrown down the road at about 80mph - on a '75 Wing - and the fairing, though road-rashed severly, never budged, and actually acted like a huge frame slider and prevented a lot more damage than would've occurred without it; they were well made!

Don't blame C. Vetter for selling out when he did though...he cashed in when all that bolt-on accessory stuff was at it's height, IMO. More power to him and hope he's enjoying his retirement and keeps fiddling around with the fuel economy challenges that he's always loved.

Pete C

Pete -

Thanks for the pictures and info. Brings back a lot of memories. I bought a new 1975 GT750 in Pensacola Fl for a cool $1795. Road the wheels off that bike. If you ran it "easy" for a while, oil would accumulate in the pipes. Then when you ringed it out at 100+, the bike looks like a crop duster spewing great white clouds of smoke.

Unfortunately the bike was totalled in the foothills of California in 1977. I was riding with a group, doing 80+ on backroads, had just taken the lead when I came upon an off camber turn, hit a patch of sand and low sided it into a barbed wire fence and a field. Fortunately the bike led the way and I was wearing leathers. Helmet came off but no damage to my noggin, just a mildly broken wrist and some nasty wire cuts. But the worst part was the embarassment on crashing out in front of friends and ruining a group ride. Wasn't long before I bought a 1978 GS1000.

My '78 KZ400 came equipped with a big ol' fairing - I think it's a Pacifico. A real step back in time...