Kawasaki By Vetter Fairing, Saddlebags And Top Box

Kawasaki by Vetter Fairing, Saddlebags and Top Box

EVALUATION

Big. powerful motorcycles, especially those with big gas tanks and shaft drive and smooth motors, tend to accumulate accessories. Touring bikes, most people call them. That's why people pile on the luggage and fairings and other equipment to make traveling a little more comfortable. Accessories have become important enough that most of the big motorcycle companies make their own. Kawasaki has tried that on the large 1 300cc Six, but for the 1 100 Four, Kawasaki offers Vetter accessories, through Kawasaki dealers.

The arrangement works well. Vetter makes good equipment. Kawasaki buys the Vetter products, with Kawasaki by Vetter name plates, and can offer a factory package. This way the colors match, the pieces fit, and you don't discover that the saddlebags from brand X don't fit with the rack from brand Z.

Few touring riders are unacquainted with the Vetter products, so the accessories on the 1 100 won't be a surprise to many. The fairing is big, blocks a wide swath of air, has good storage room under its covers and adapts to lots of other accessories. Want to install an AM-FM stereo? All the hardware is available to fit it into the Vetter fairing. Want lowers? They're available, fit well and come color matched to the bike. In this case, the lowers do too good a job of blocking air and funnel hot air from the engine onto the rider's legs. Even on medium cool days there was too much heat. Four screws on each side and they came off. Better yet would be a quick detach mounting for the lowers and some convenient place to attach them for storage.

Details on the fairing are well thought out. Vents in the windshield let a little more air in on hot days. The headlight is remotely adjustable. One storage cover is hard and lockable, the other snaps on and is upholstered. Both have straps into which things like maps can fit.

Luggage on the Kawasaki also comes from Vetter. And like the fairing, the painted panels are matched to the Kawasaki. Most of the surface area on the bags and top box are a matt black plastic, with shiny painted panels fastened to the surface, or forming the lids. The appearance of the Vetter luggage is, well, distinctive. The saddlebags don't look like suitcases, and the top box doesn't look like it is formed from cardboard. These things have shape.

Some of the shape is intended to let the saddlebags fit tightly against the sides of the motorcycle, and to fit on the rubber mounts. Other shapes are just shapes, a way of making the Vetter luggage look not like luggage.

Utility is compromised because of the shape, at least partially. A helmet, for instance, won't fit through the lids of the saddlebags. Only one helmet will fit in the top box, and it doesn't fit easily. Using the maximum dimensions of the top box or saddlebags is difficult because the lids aren't as big as they could be. They do seal well, with nice rubber gaskets around the edges. And the sloping sides of the saddlebags make loading the bags on the bike much easier than other types of demountable luggage.

With the test Kawasaki came a pocketful of keys. The motorcycle key worked the ignition, seat lock, gas cap and centerstand lock. Another key operated the lock on the fairing, another one went to the top box and two other keys were marked left bag and right bag. This is ridiculous. When a factory sells the entire package, it should have one key. Even with the outside supplier for accessories, they should come with one key and matched locks. It would also be nice to have the top box easily removable. Now it requires considerable wrench work.

The best part of the Vetter accessories is that they work. A few details aside, the luggage is huge and fits on the motorcycle without problem. The fairing protects the rider well and all of the equipment appears well made. And if the Kawasaki rider needs a new windshield or a saddlebag, it won't be hard to find a replacement part, even if a Kawasaki dealer isn't nearby.

List prices are: Fairing $573.65, travel trunk $275.25, saddlebags $380.35, saddlebag brackets $74.90. fairing lowers $ 1 1 5.75, engine guard $59.90, cable lock $29.95. That adds up to $1 509.75 for the accessories on this bike. B8