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San Luis Obispo, California
Oct 7- 8 - 9, 2010
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It is always fun to share my stories of motorcycle design. This year, at the Central Coast Classic in San Luis Obispo, we will have time for two sessions, each annotated in PowerPoint. Please join us for:
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The Vetter Story
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An insider's look at how Vetter Corporation grew from an idea and a handful of friends to an American motorcycle related company, second in size only to Harley Davidson.
"His legacy reached into nearly every segment of motorcycling" Bill Stermer motorcycle writer
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Or... |
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The Triumph Hurricane:
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The Hurricane is considered to be one of the best designs of history.
How in the world did the mighty British Triumph Motorcycle Company come to entrust their flagship Triple to an American designer in the cornfields of Illinois?
This is one of my favorite stories. you decide which one you want.
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The Last Vetter Fairing:
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Is it possible to go 70 miles per hour, into a 30 mph headwind and get 100 miles per gallon?
This is called "The Last Vetter Fairing" because no other design does so much while burning so little fuel. I could never design a better cross-country cruiser.
See it in SLO.
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Who is this Craig Vetter guy, anyway?
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I have been a part of a wonderful period in motorcycle history. Because I have known the movers and shakers of our sport, I have great stories to tell. Motorcycles, Design and inventing have been my life. But more important has been being a husband to my wife Carol and father to our boys, Zak and Morgan.
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In 1999, I was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. |
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2010: Vetter Designs on permanent Display at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame
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2010: Denver Iron Butt Banquet
Where I addressed the world's toughest riders
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Other engagements:
Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA), Lake Barkely, Kentucky
IDSA, Asilomar. California
IDSA Del Mar, California
IDCA, Aspen, Colorado
Pasadena School of Art & Design, California
San Jose School of Design, California
Elam Universty, New Zealand
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
Columbus School of Art and Design, Columbus, Ohio
AMA Vintage Motorcycle Events, California and Ohio
Carnegie-Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Monterey Prayer Breakfast, California
2008 ICSID/ IDSA World Congress "Connecting '07, San Francisco
Beezumph, England, 2003, 2008, 2009
Grand Marshall, Riding into History, Jacksonville, FL
Judge, Legend of the Motorcycle, Half Moon Bay, CA
Barber's Museum, Birmingham, AL
TrailBlazers MC Club
Bonneville 50th Anniversary. Gaydon, England
2009 Banquet address AMCA, Davenport, Iowa
2009-10 Gathering of Streamliners, Mid Ohio
2010 Iron Butt Convention Banquet
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2009: AMCA Banquet, Davenport, Iowa
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What they say about me: |
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"Vetter's presentation represented a lucky moment for students to witness firsthand a one-of-a-kind package of intellect, intensity, and know-how. It was a pleasure for the School of Art + Design to welcome Craig home!"
( I graduated from the U of I )
Ken Carls
k-carls@uiuc.edu
Interim Director
School of Art + Design
University of Illinois at U-C
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Conducting a 3-day design project for Design Seniors at Illinois, Oct 2002 |
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"Very few designers have the guts or the skill to become successful entrepreneurs. Craig Vetter did and still does. Yet Craig's passion for design and sensitivity to the environment is something most design student's today consider a dichotomy. This is the power behind his message - it ain't necessarily so and it doesn't have to be. This is an important message for the next generation of designers to know and to hear, especially from a man who still makes a difference. Craig is about where the rubber meets the road and he doesn't pull any punches. Craig tells it like it is and shows how a designer can truly create a world as it should be. He inspires anyone who may dare call themselves a designer."
Carl Garant
c_garant@yahoo.com
Dean of Industrial and Interior Design
Columbus College of Art and Design
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Columbus College of Art & Design, 2002
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"Vetter's achievement with the Triumph Hurricane had a significant influence on motorcycle design for the next two decades."
Charles M. Falco
falco@u.arizona.edu
UA Chair of Condensed Matter Physics
Professor of Optical Sciences
University of Arizona
Co-Curator 'The Art of the Motorcycle'
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My Triumph Hurricane Design at the Guggenheim, 1999 |
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“Craig is not an ordinary Industrial designer. His Windjammer fairing really changed the image of motorcycles. His design for the 1973 Triumph Hurricane garnerd it a place in the Guggenheim “Art of the Motorcycle”, an exhibit reserved for only 100 designs. He sponsored a Fuel Economy Contest near his home in Big Sur California in which the winner got over 500 mpg. His innovative wheelchair design carried the driver to first place in the Boston Marathon. He is an extraordinary Industrial Designer who has made innovative accomplishments that go far beyond his own disciplines.“
Craig Vetter, as introduced at the 15th Robert Lepper Distinguished Lecture Series, 1999
Mary Schmidt
Associate Head of Art, Carnegie Mellon
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Carnegie-Mellon, 1999
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"Working with Craig Vetter over the past couple of years has taught me that he's much more than the designer of the Windjammer Fairing. His PowerPoint presentation (The Vetter Story, “Too Much Fun”) starts when he was a teenager re-designing scooters, making cardboard motorcycle silencers, hovercraft, fairings, even wheelchairs. His use of PowerPoint is set to music, and a very complete and professional presentation. His sons help with this great documentation of his work. Like father, like sons, I guess." |
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"Man in the Wind" display. 2002-3
AMA Hall of Fame Museum Pickerington, Ohio
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Mark Mederski, Curator AMA Hall of Fame Museum |
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I have been blessed far beyond what anybody would expect in life. Now it is time to give back. |
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Some of my presentations:
"The Designs and Inventions of Craig Vetter" A lot more than motorcycles.
"The Last Vetter Fairing" 100 mpg, t 70mph, into a 30 mph headwind...Is it possible?
"Bonneville TT " My design of 1972 became the Triumph Trident of 1975
Hurricane Story" 1969- present: How this famous English Triumph motorcycle got designed by an American in the cornfields of Illinois"
"How to get 470 miles per gallon at real highway speeds" The Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Contests 1980-85
"What is this Harley Thing?" An informative and humorous look at the Harley phenomenon
"The Vetter Story... Too Much fun" How an Industrial Designer changed the world. You can too.
"Craig Vetter's Scooter designs" After 50 years, development of the American motor scooter has resumed
"Why not a Flying Motorcycle?" Flying vehicles are the future. A contest is the best way to make it come true. Are we not designers?
"Classic American Design" We set the standard for the world
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This page posted Nov 26, 2009
Updated Sep. 15, 2010
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