Vetter streamliner body kit

[cvetter]

You are drifting away from "Do I make this kit for you?"


Should I make this kit for you?

Thanks

Craig

[Weather Spotter]

Thanks but I do not think at this point I will be investing in a bike. Sorry.

[minimac]

Craig- I've followed your build and really appreciate the work you've done. What would you estimate the real world improvement in mpgs for an average motorcyclist would be? I mean normal driving, no special tuning or one off gear sets. Milk carton paper would never hold up for me! Is there any way to get the cost lower? Would a strong demand help lower costs? Could the kit be available bit by bit? That way I could assemble over time as spare cash becomes available and also be able to get "crash" replacement parts. While I'm not looking for 100mpg, I sure would like to get better than 60. I would be interested, just for the increased comfort and practicability factor, and a mileage increase would be a huge bonus.

[DonBarletta]

Back to the subject at hand. . . if Craig makes this kit, who of us would buy it at his price?

Me personally – as much as I would love to have one, and even though I already own a Honda Helix, with my finances I must take a pass. Perhaps someday those of these that get fully assembled will become highly prized collector items trading at enormous dollar vales. They certainly should – as this is groundbreaking work on Craig’s part – who’s obviously driven by passion.

I just read the first four pages of this thread, and besides the detour into fuel mileage debates, I have not seen anyone write about the other big benefit of Craig’s design IMHO – and that being that while riding his streamliner, one is sitting in almost dead calm air – and to me that is a big plus.

So far I have ridden tens of thousands of miles in 37 states in all kinds of weather on a number of motorcycles and scooters, and I for one would certainly have enjoyed a calm air environment while doing so.

My BMW R90/6 which I bought brand new in 1976, was set up from the dealer at my request with a full Vetter Windjammer fairing with the lowers, among other goodies. Outstanding in its day – I wish I still had that motorcycle.

I have followed Craig’s Helix streamliner project from day one with great interest. I’m retired with no more commuting, but little time now for recreational riding. If the expense of purchasing Craig’s kit was of no financial hindrance to me, I would buy one of Craig’s kits in a heartbeat, and then pay someone else to put it all together on my Helix, as I do not have the capability to assemble it myself.

And once it was put together, it would probably be the last 2-wheeler I would ever need to own, as I have read of Helixes getting over 100,000 miles. But I digress. . .

For all of the development work and time that Craig has put into this project, he is certainly to be commended. I believe that he is in the motorcycle Hall of Fame. If not, he certainly deserves to be. I applaud his lifelong passion, and thank him for sharing it with all of us and the world.

[cvetter]

It is horsepower that consumes your fuel.
A vehicle with more horsepower consumes more fuel.
A vehicle with less horsepower consumes less fuel.
Streamlining allows less horsepower to do the job
Therefore, streamlining and horsepower go together.
In American road conditions, 70 mph, into headwinds, etc. we are learning that somewhere around 18 HP* will do the job.

Most 18 HP bikes will not go 70 mph, into a 30 mph headwind, over mountain passes...etc etc. Streamlined, they will. You can see from 5 years of experimenting on my web page that 100mpg can be achieved in normal driving with no change in driving habits. 100 mpg driving the way we really drive is pretty good.
With less than 18 hp and you cannot go typical American speeds.

More than 18 hp would allow you to be able to go faster. You would not notice much in the way of reduced fuel consumption since you have too much horsepower.

Strong demand for streamlined kits? It appears that there is no demand at all. Even among Ecomodders, only one thinks he might buy a nose kit. Read this thread.

If I finish the tooling, I will be happy to sell him or you a nose kit.

By the way... for pricing, I simply double the cost from my fiberglass supplier.

*18 hp is approximate. We are still homing in on the right number

[sendler]

Perhaps your nose mold could be sent to a vacuum former to reduce cost.
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Title
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[cvetter]

Hand laid fiberglass in hand laid fiberglass molds is the cheapest way to make a quality part in small numbers. Like less than a 1000 per year.


Above is my vacuum former in 1978. I made Windjammer Fairings in it. Vac forming requires new tooling, setup, and many wasted parts before we can get something usable. Then we can make one every 30 seconds. There are no real cost savings until we do it continuously. That is a lot of parts.

So far, maybe one person might buy a nose kit. And that is at the cheapest price possible.

No... vac forming is not our future with streamlined parts. Finishing the fiberglass molds may not be in the future either.

I am learning a lot here. Call it market research.

Thanks

[sendler]

A small scale jobber can't vacuum form over the male plug that you already have?

[cvetter]

A small scale vac former cannot beat the price for one hand laid fiberglass part. Too much prep work. So far you are the one that thinks you might buy even one nose.

It is not looking good for me putting more effort into making parts, is i?.

I gave this until Christmas.

[Weather Spotter]

do not give up, some people might want one.