Craig Vetter is well known around the motorcycle world as the creator of the Vetter fairing. He’s been a very busy guy over the years and we mentioned his design for the Defiant Scooter based on a Harley Sportster a while back. But Craig Vetter has had quite an interest in streamlining and increased efficiency for a long time and for five years, 1980 – 1985, he had a high mileage contest. One contestant actually managed 477mpg! You might think some of the ideas from that contest would generate a little interest these days and Craig thought it would be cool to make the fairing used in that contest so some of you could do a little experimenting on your own.
He made a number of the fairings and he is offering them for sale on his site. They’re not exactly a kit, just a basic fairing which will require a bit of engineering on the part of the buyer to make it fit and build some sort of mounting system. He uses the example of the Honda Helix scooter as a base vehicle to which you would add the fairing. There are a couple of other examples as well.
I think this would be a great project to see just what kind of mileage a current scooter or small displacement motorcycle could really get. With a body shell like this as a start, you’re well on your way. Wouldn’t this kind of project open things up a bit beyond the build a chopper mode so many seem to be stuck in? With all of the technical skill and creativity out there, trying to get super high mileage would be a neat change of pace. I like it.
Doug says
owning the record for highest mpg with an internal combustion engine should be worth something. Discovery Channel, put this together to balance out the “burnouts-against-a-wall” chopper shows.