I bought a Vetter Terraplane that had a Goldwing attached!

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desertrefugee

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I absolutely could not pass this up. Deep down, I have always wanted to run a hack and admire many of the rigs out on the road. But, they are pretty uncommon (not counting the ubiquitous Ural). A design that has always caught my eye is the old Vetter Terraplane. I didn't realize it, but less than a thousand of them were ever produced! Anyway, I happened across a decent example here in Phoenix, owned by an octogenarian ready to let it go. He'd had it for years, but it unfortunately got kicked out of the garage relegated to his side yard. Luckily, it was covered on a Phoenix north-facing side of the building. Rough around the edges, but it should clean up nice. The paint is oxidized, but I believe will shine up decently. There are a few farkles that I am not keen on (lights and riveted birds), so I have work to do that will leave the holes behind meaning I could end up with new paint.

It is hanging off a titled '78 GL1000, but the bike has early 1000 shelter and side covers. Weird. I got the bike started - it had been sitting untouched for "a couple of years" he said. Could be 10 as far as I know, but it did run...sort of. Compression was between 110 and 130 on all four. Very encouraging. For now, the known "need" list is, belts, battery, carb freshening, left side cover. Three new tires, an extra carb rack and did I mention the original tonneau cover is in perfect shape??

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this beast, but am pretty stoked to have one in my possession.

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Well, in the interest of full disclosure, it is a restored salvage title. He said he bought it like that years ago. Maybe there was some funny business. Has a '78 plate on the frame. I didn't check the frame VIN. Just the frame ID plate. Gulp.

And to be perfectly honest, I really only wanted the car. He refused to break it apart. Even if I threw the bike away, I STILL GOT A GOOD DEAL! It'd be nice if I could actually register it.
 
You guys are freaking me out. I just went out and checked. Frame and ID plate match the title. Looks like it might have been a rebuild somewhere in the last 40 years - with different motor, shelter and side covers. I went over the frame very closely looking for any sign of damage. The only thing I can see is an old dimple from what was probably a Vetter fairing frame mount. The old guy said something about having bought it from Bob's Cycle here. They're a huge salvage yard and may not have a retail license. Forced to sell as salvage maybe? I don't know. And I don't really care. It seems solid enough to me.
 
Excellent purchase :good: I like the concept of filling it up with ice and plenty of fresh beverages! :salute:
:party: :party: :party:
 
Thanks guys for the comments. It's morning now and I still am happy with my purchase. (Whew!) Again, I only wanted the car, but the guy insisted that the motorcycle come with. Looking it over, it is actually kinda nice, if a bit forgotten. Needs some spit and shine and some tuning. Has new tires (2014 codes) but needs carb work (and timing belts).

For now, I'm just going to clean the rig up, get it running and then decide what to do. It'll live beside the house (where you see it in the pictures). That's really not such a bad thing in Arizona as long as it's covered. It won't get much sun on the north side of the house and a good tarp will protect it just fine. Trust me. Arizona is a dry place. I wish I had more garage space but it's pretty full now. (WV Westfalia gets a spot, too).

More to come...
 
Great buy. I have 80 1100 with California sidecar gives a LOT of more storage. When I got mine it wasn't set up right and had the death wobbles at about 25 mph. For me getting it set up was a lot like witchcraft!!!! Finely got it. There is a learning curve to drive it. A lot of the sidecar forums said the best person to learn was a person that never rode a motorcycle lol!!! I have found that it will wear the rear tier some what faster o I need to tweak some more. When taking off from stop bike is trying to pass sidecar. But when stopping it's the sidecar trying to pass bike lol!!! Also when empty ballast is needed or third wheel will come off ground (don't ask how I know) lol . A lot of fun and opens a lot of possibility's. Have fun and ride safe. Jerry
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=182146#p182146:3cc5fjtm said:
slabghost » Wed Oct 12, 2016 4:47 am[/url]":3cc5fjtm]
Sure hope you get the 78 registered and back in service. Nice score!
+1 :good:
 
I spent exactly 5 minutes working on the car tonight. I got home late and satisfied my curiosity as to how the paint would clean up. Got my answer. And the answer is: I won't be painting it anytime soon. While the finish is far, far from perfect, I will keep some of the imperfections for now as a sort of "patina". I would expect that I can polish it out nicely (as nice as it's going to get) in about 30 minutes.

Besides, I have far more pressing, higher priority issues to deal with first.

Yes, the windscreen is cracked. Replacements are available. It's gonna cost $150USD, but I figure it'll be worth it.

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Make sure it can get plenty of air to it if you cover it. I wrapped a bike up once for the winter. Really sealed it up nicely and the following spring it looked like someone had traded the most horrible rust bucket ever for the great bike I had covered so well. Decent chrome was ruined. Everything was a mess. It cleaned up but I was forever touching up rust spots and the cables were all ruined.
Talked to a few people who had done the same. Just keep it covered but let enough air into it to dry it off. Condensation is a killer!
 
Thanks, Walter. Point duly noted. But truly, condensation (dew or otherwise) is pretty rare around here. Only time I'd have it would be after rain and the evaporation got up under the cover. It will obviously not fare as well as it would in the garage, but will age gracefully covered in Arizona.

But, your warning did remind me to let it air out if it rains. It might rain here again. Someday.
 
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