Installed these today after 9 months of "noodling" about it.

http://www.southernrods.com/categories/heating-and-cooling/vents/products/product-2140.html

GRZ - Great looking bike!

I have long legs and don't really have issues with the heat like a lot of guys.  I can rest my heels on the front tipovers. There were a couple of really hot days last summer that the right exhaust heat got noticeable and I decided try and come up with something low profile.  The left vent is basically just to balance out the right one but any air moving around there is better than nothing.  I could easily add a second set on top of the first ones and have a really flexible set-up but I probably won't need it.  

Mine is definitely not a "short leg" fix.  Riders with short inseams that ride in hot weather should get the factory deflectors.  They are a lifesaver if your inner legs are getting cooked.

These suckers were expensive but by far the best looking on the whole web.  Like VisionTex said, the fact that they close tight is a huge plus for foul/cold weather riding.  You can find the same size vents and do a budget job for less than $20/side but they will look like an afterthought.  These look factory and have the pricetag to match!

Big Al,

Yes, I used a 2 1/2" hole saw with a pilot drill bit.  (That's why it took me 9 months to pull the trigger!)  If you look at the link and the photo of the open vent you see about 2.5-3" of plastic on the back side.  I took a hacksaw and cut all but about .5 inch off the back side so the only plastic left on the back is enough to act as a locking ring.  (The billet vent screws into the black plastic part.)  There are 2 clearance issues:  The right side is mounted high enough to clear the brake fluid reservoir and allow an unrestricted airflow.  The left side overlaps the oil cooler by about 1/2 inch and I had to trim the "locking ring" on the back about 1/8" for clearance.

I looked at the Summit parts (priced from about $25-43.00) made by Billet Specialties but I had issues with how to shut off the airflow.  I also looked at long, thin vents to mount vertically but they all have squared off corners and didn't match the lines of the bike.  I found other billet hot rod vents that looked cool but they also had closure issues. 

The ones I got are perfect for what I wanted do. 

Ox - Nervous is an understatement.  My wife was so freaked out she couldn't even watch.  The right wide was pretty straight forward once I knew where to clear the brake reservoir.  I didn't think it totally through ahead of time though and when I got around to the left side and saw the oil cooler with it's associated plumbing I had an "Oh, (fill in your favorite word here)" moment.  I was committed to matching it to the right side since it was already installed.  (I briefly thought about leaving the left side alone and stacking the two vents on the right side but I'm too anal, it had to be balanced.)  I looked at it from front and back and felt between the fairing and the oil cooler to see how much room I had to work with.  My first concern was the pilot drill bit.  I knew it would clear the cooler but might tap into some of the plumbing.  Once I convinced myself that it was doable, my next concern was the holesaw punching through the fairing and touching the cooler.  I had less than 1/2 an inch of space between the fairing and the cooler.  I cut that hole with the precision of a brain surgeon cutting out a section of skull.  It took 4 times longer than the right side to cut through.  Once I backed the holesaw out and checked that everything was untouched, I let out a huge sigh of relief.

Sqeak - I went into this with the total expectation of screwing it up and ordering the chrome package to make up for it.  When I saw the left side and all of the stuff in the way there, I also made plans in my head for getting the bike towed to the shop for a new oil cooler at worst or a new hose at best.  I'm totally lucky that the two vents match up and nothing got messed up in the process.  $180 for a pair of vents sounds like a steal all of a sudden.  (p.s. If I cared about what other people thought, I never would have bought the Vision!)

I had three criteria for the vents: 1) - They had to be installable (is that even a word?) with the fairings on the bike.  I was not going to take it apart to do this.  2) - They had to be fully adjustable in every direction for maximum flexibility. 3) - They had to be able to close tightly.

I'm extremely happy with the results but I wouldn't wish the left side drama on anyone else.

Thanks VNWR, it was definitely worth the risk.  If Victory would move the oil cooler about 2" inboard and route the plumbing out of the way it would be a 20 minute mod to do both sides.  It took me longer to trim down the plastic pipe from the back of the vent than it did to cut the hole and install it on the right side.  The left side is so cluttered I'll bet over 50 percent of the airflow is blocked. It's mostly for looks (to match the right side).  Since the motor is offset so far to the right with no exhaust pipes, the left side doesn't get near as hot.

No guts, no glory.

Vinner1,

You would have to go about 4" higher to clear the plumbing and oil cooler.  (You can see the top of the cooler in the left side pics.)  The issue is the heat on the right side.  Most of it is down low, around the pipes.  In a perfect world I would have mounted the vents about 3" from the bottom of the fairing.  Since the brake reservoir sits there I had to move the bottom of the vent to 4 1/2 " from the bottom of the fairing.  I got boresighted on the right side airflow being as low as possible with max flow and forgot to check the left side before the install.  There is all kinds of room higher but it's farther away from the heat.

You are right on track about the perfect fix.  I invisioned a vertical vent, about 12-14" long and about 1/2"-1" wide with a sliding cover.  Run it right along the outer edges of the aluminum fairings on both sides.

I have a 200 mile lunch run planned tomorrow with temps approaching 80.  Will get a good feel for the vents and report back in.

By the way, my lovely wife (remember the one who couldn't watch the cutting?) came out to see the final install and as I was showing her how the vents open, close and pivot she said "What?  You have to adjust them manually?  How cheezy is that?  I thought they'd at least have their own motors!" 

29 years of chain yanking.....feel the love.

Just got back from a 190 mile lunch run.  The temp was right at 80 degrees.  Set the cruise at 65 mph and fiddled with the vents.  I kept my legs pulled back into the warmest zone.

The Right Side - The warmest part of my right leg was at the top of my boot (bottom of my calf).  I could focus the airflow right on that spot and keep it cooled off.  It is only about a 2" zone and I could feel the inside part of my leg just above that spot getting some residual heat but not as hot as the bottom of my calf would have been.  Another vent on top of the first one would have knocked down basically all of the heat.  The stream coming out of the vent felt very cool, even with my gloves on.  The airstream is effective until it gets to the rear edge of the brake pedal.  At that point the heat from the rear pipe begins to take effect and the vent can't overcome that.

The Left Side - Basically a pretty ornament.  It is so blocked that I had to put my hand about 3" away from it just to feel the breeze.  The air coming through the oil cooler was way more prevalent and overwhelmed anything coming out of the vent.  Luckily the engine is offset way to the right and there is plenty of airflow coming through there in all but the most extreme circumstances.  (This is the main reason the right side is so hot.  The engine being offset to the right takes away any chance for clean airflow between the fairing and the engine.)  I don't see how any vents on the left side will make a significant dent.

My recommendation:  If you want pure functionality with these vents, install two on the right side and don't waste your time with the left side.  If you want a clean look and don't need a lot of coverage but just want something to knock down the hottest spot, go with one on the right side.  Just make sure it is above the brake reservoir because you don't want anything blocking that airflow.  2 1/2" is pretty small but you can't go wider than that on the lower fairing.

If you want max cooling on both sides, get the Victory deflectors (they are also more versatile in the winter time for diverting cold air away from your legs).  There is no subsitute for cfm's.  No amount of venting in the fairing will match the airflow from the deflectors. 

One option that would involve just pure cutting would be to cut away the inboard edge of the right fairing where it is closest to the motor.  If you could cut an inch of fairing away from the engine to let a breeze through there and make it look good you would have a pretty effective fix.  If you balanced it out on the left side the fairing would clear the entire oil cooler and would improve the overall flow on that side. 

Tag, you're it.

Vance, 

I'm not sure the boys in the great white north of Minnesota feel our pain with the heat or they would have designed for it from day one.  Although the add-on deflectors work great it's a shame something couldn't have been integrated in the first place.  I'm probably longer legged than 80% of the riders (36" inseam) and I can feel the heat on the right side even with my long legs.  

I was at my dealership last summer and a couple from California came through Memphis on a Vision and he had second degree burns on the inside of his leg just below his right calf.  (He was about 5'7".)  He peeled back a 3X3" bandage with burn cream on it and showed me a really nasty silver dollar sized blister.  He didn't know anything about the wind deflectors and I immediately went behind the counter of the showroom and pulled a set off the wall display.  He bought them on the spot.

Somebody waaaay smarter than me is going to come up with a real fix that is designed into the bike and not viewed as an afterthought.  I don't plan on ever upgrading to a newer Vision so I have a lot of time ahead of me to "noodle" and make the 2008 model a little bit better for everybody that has one through lots of trial and error.