Vetter Design Works, project manager |
So who is Craig Vetter? Only the most important single individual in motorcycling in the last half of the 20th century. The photos are from a sales brochure for the entire property.
This is where I lived and worked, life is rough out here in California.
Craig and Carol lived here
The dining room
Some details of the shop.
The shot above shows the workshop area where the design work fabrication occurred. The lower shot is the living space that I occupied. One could sit in the hot tub and watch the rockets take off from Vandenburg Air Force Base or look over the San Luis Obispo valley.
Somehow I was able to manage:-) My role After I sold BMW of Marin in 1975, I sort of retired. Not because I was rich enough to live a life of luxury without any income, but because I was now able to do whatever I wanted, without respect to a reliable income. I bought a place in Modoc County and lived there for a few years to "unwind" from my hectic life as a BMW dealer. Those few years brought in offers of employment, but it wasn't until Craig's offer that I was "sucked" back into the work force. What did I do? My first task was the Mystery Ship project. It was the forerunner of today's fully faired crotch rocket. The original idea was to start with a BMW. Butler and Smith, the importer in those days, was unwilling to make a favorable deal with Craig Vetter. The Kawasaki KZ 1000 ended up being used as the base bike. My job was to manage the implementation of the project. Craig did the design work and left much of the rest of the project to me. Only 10 of the units were actually made and sold due to poor response from the buying public. The design concept was too far ahead of its time. Today we see many models of motorcycles on the streets that follow the Mystery Ship concept. Part way though the project I was pulled off to manage the first ever Vetter Rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado. My old position was assigned to my very good friend, Dick Arnold, who was also my flight instructor. We are good friends to this day, but he "escaped" to Texas where he and Judy, his wife, teach in high schools.
My business card, greatly expanded during the scan I have the book written about the Mystery Ship and signed by Craig, but can't find it now. I will scan some pictures later, when I find it. |
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This page was last edited:
04/16/2006 - copyright
Duane Ausherman |
