I met a couple at my dealership last week who were from Bakersfield, CA.  Just bought their Vision last month and were on a cross-country shakedown and had come in for the 2,500 mile service.  I asked how they like the bike and he said it was great except for the intense heat.  I told him that it was a popular topic on this website (he had never heard of Vision-Riders) and that it was more noticeable to some but not others.  He proceeded to roll up his left pants leg and peel away a 3" bandage on his left calf that was covering a 2nd degree blister.  I took a double take and said "Your left leg!?  The pipes are on the right, how did that happen?"  He said they had a right crosswind going through Arizona for 5 hours and all of the heat just cooked his leg.  He had to wrap his lower leg in an ace bandage just to ride for any length of time. 

He was about 5'7" tall and had the highway pegs but not the lower wind deflectors.  I told him he needed to put the lower deflectors on, it would change his life.  (Black bike, perfect match.)  He had never heard of the deflectors and I asked the sales guy to grab a set to show him.  He was blown away that his dealer back home had not said a word about them.  He immediately made arrangements to leave the bike and rent a car while the deflectors were installed and allowed to cure for 24hrs.  I left the dealership and I never did find out how they liked them but it was a pretty graphic example of why some people are willing to go to great lengths for relief.

Nah.  Summer's basically over and I've been able to keep my long legs in front of the heat.  Hottest day was 107 on the dash gauge and I caught a looooong coal train.  Ultra driver pulled up next to me and we just shut off the bikes, put them on the kickstands (traffic was backed up way behind us) and walked over under a tree and shot the breeze for about 5 minutes.  My oil-temp dipstick showed 220 that day (normally about 190) and he said that he had a digital gauge on his that once showed 295 when it was stock.  Aftermarket pipes and fuel controller brought it down to around 260.   Yowza!

pollolittle - 2008-08-18 11:00 AM Me, I think mine hit 106. Funny it didn't crap out once it got to 100 degrees, like it does when it gets down to 32 or lower. Consistency, instead of breaking or going crazy at that temp, the programmer should have wrote a line across the screen at 32 degrees, something like, "It is too damn cold to ride and if you read this please send note to Victory to have your plaque sent to you as an inductee to the Polar Bear Motorcyclist Club! We know you are not human!" at 100 degrees, "You do realize it is hot, eggs cook on concrete at this temp, why are you reading this! Grab a boat, some bikini clad ladies and cool down." I installed them they look alright, gonna paint the plexi black so it will match and probably the winglets too. I put the highway pegs on and that helped tremendously, but the wind deflectors bring it right to ya, which is what I liked. An added benefit is that they manage to direct wind right next to your leg, but then alot of air also gets directed back up around the chest area, really cooling down the bubble your riding in. VERY NICE! They should come in handy this winter also.

I'm like IRR, didn't know about the heat issue or you weren't suppose to ride when it was too hot or too cold until I read this forum. Where is this rule book for motorcycle riding? I need to read up on it because I'm missing out on a lot of things here. I picked up my Vision last November and took to the folks in the mountain for Thanksgiving. When I left that Friday morning the dash thermo was all freaked out and read -3. It was actually 19 degrees. Being all proud of myself with heated seats and grips, long-johns on and the coveralls, I head out on my 180 mile trek. However, before I got too far away, I passed a dude on a sportster with long beard and googles, no windshield and a big grin waving at me. I was humbled. I guess he hasn't read the rule book either.