Horn upgrade.

[spyug]

Either or but both is better as that is how they are designed to work or so I'm told.

As they fire together, they produce a blended tone that is louder than both individually.

As they are inexpensive enough I'd recommend you go with both and I'm sure you will be pleased with the way they perform.

Cheers,
S.

 

[MikeG]

Welcome to this weeks' episode of "THANK YOU, PO!"

I bought the FIAMM horns from Napa today for my afternoon project. Got the relay, wire, connectors, and laid them all out. Then I started to disassemble the old wiring. Two black wires lead from each horn to a taped together mess under the top tube. after the third layer I found a green wire peeking out soldered to a black wire. Hoorah! Horn wire found!

Hooked that to #87, tied each of the two wires from each horn to a spade connector and hooked left to 85 and right to 86. power to #30 and off we go.

...except once I got it back together, nothing happens when I hit the button.

Now I'm screwed, I'm at the limit of my knowledge and I don't feel sure of myself enough to pull the main harness apart to figure out what goes where and I wont ride the bike without a horn.

i have to wait till fall when my mechanic friend who promised to redo my wiring is back from the racing circuit.

 

[mustangflyr]

Been using Fiamms on my 1000 for decades, found that when used the driver in the car starts looking for that truck that's about to run them over. Good investment.

 

[scotto58]

Hey Mike,

I MAY be off base but I think if the horns have 2 wires going to them 1 goes to ground and the other to a power source/switch. Did the horns come with any instructions?

Scott

 

[MikeG]

Hey Mike,

I MAY be off base but I think if the horns have 2 wires going to them 1 goes to ground and the other to a power source/switch. Did the horns come with any instructions?

Scott

That's what I thought but I read here that both wires went to either 85 or 86. Tomorrow I'm going to try separating each side and wire those together t o see what happens.

 

[BassCliff]

I bought the FIAMM horns from Napa today for my afternoon project. Got the relay, wire, connectors, and laid them all out. Then I started to disassemble the old wiring. Two black wires lead from each horn to a taped together mess under the top tube. after the third layer I found a green wire peeking out soldered to a black wire. Hoorah! Horn wire found!

Hooked that to #87, tied each of the two wires from each horn to a spade connector and hooked left to 85 and right to 86. power to #30 and off we go.

...except once I got it back together, nothing happens when I hit the button.

Hi,

You want to connect the original, stock horn wire to #86 and the new horns to #87. Then #85 gets connected to ground and #30 is the power from the battery.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[MikeG]

By horn wire, do you mean the green wire coming from the horn switch?

 

[Steve]

Hooked that to #87, tied each of the two wires from each horn to a spade connector and hooked left to 85 and right to 86. power to #30 and off we go.

...except once I got it back together, nothing happens when I hit the button.

Hi,

You want to connect the original, stock horn wire to #86 and the new horns to #87. Then #85 gets connected to ground and #30 is the power from the battery.

Close, but not quite.

The stock horns have two wires connected to them. Not sure about the colors, but I think the green wire is a constant HOT wire from the battery, then the black one is the one that goes to the switch on the handlebar where it gets grounded when you push the button.

To use a relay in the system, remove the two wires from both horns, tape off both wires that went to one horn. You should have one green and one black wire left. Connect them to #85 and #86 (it does not matter which goes to which). Connect #30 to the battery (using a fuse, of course), then connect both horns to #87. If the horns have two terminals, connect the other terminal to a chassis ground.

.

 

[DanTheMan]

Follow this link http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/horn_relay_install_gert.pdf, it will give you the correct way to wire the horns in detail, and it works!

 

[BassCliff]

Close, but not quite.

The stock horns have two wires connected to them. Not sure about the colors, but I think the green wire is a constant HOT wire from the battery, then the black one is the one that goes to the switch on the handlebar where it gets grounded when you push the button.

To use a relay in the system, remove the two wires from both horns, tape off both wires that went to one horn. You should have one green and one black wire left. Connect them to #85 and #86 (it does not matter which goes to which). Connect #30 to the battery (using a fuse, of course), then connect both horns to #87. If the horns have two terminals, connect the other terminal to a chassis ground.

.

Thanks for the clarification Steve. I'd really hate to cause a fellow GSR member to lose any magic smoke from their electrical system.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[koolaid_kid]

Follow this link http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/horn_relay_install_gert.pdf, it will give you the correct way to wire the horns in detail, and it works!

I agree with this method, and used it on my bike. You can make this as difficult as you wish, but you really only need to send +12V to the positive terminal of the horn. Everything else will take care of itself. The only other issue I have ever seen is poor contact in the actual button, but that is a totally different story.

 

[GabrielGoes]

Heres what i did that works pretty well i have a nautilus air horn i believe... i got an inline 20 amp fuse holder from the battery to the 30 on the relay, 85 and 86 the existing horn wires go, and from 87 (the top remaining part of the relay) goes to the + on the actual horn, and i just wired the - on the horn to the - battery terminal... it doesnt get easier... just make sure everytime you "test" the horn your fuse isnt blown! i tried for like half an hour going over and over my connections to only find my fuse was blown (30amp) just get the 20 amp and you should be fine

 

[Steve]

Heres what i did that works pretty well i have a nautilus air horn i believe... i got an inline 20 amp fuse holder from the battery to the 30 on the relay, 85 and 86 the existing horn wires go, and from 87 (the top remaining part of the relay) goes to the + on the actual horn, and i just wired the - on the horn to the - battery terminal... it doesnt get easier... just make sure everytime you "test" the horn your fuse isnt blown! i tried for like half an hour going over and over my connections to only find my fuse was blown (30amp) just get the 20 amp and you should be fine

That's what works because that is exactly what is described above, both by me and the link that DanTheMan posted.

Follow this link http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/horn_relay_install_gert.pdf, it will give you the correct way to wire the horns in detail, and it works!

Did you notice that is exactly what I described just one post earlier?

That is because Gert was having problems with his horns and asked me for help. After several PMs and e-mails, he got his horns working. In the process, he wrote it all up and sent it to me for proofing before submitting it to BassCliff to be hosted there.

 

[MikeG]

Thanks to all for their help. I think the diagram in the link was what helped clinch it for me.

Now , why do you suppose the PO decided to take the old green wire and replace it with a black wire...while changing the black wire to a green one at the same time?!?!?!?

I had to pull the horn switch to convince myself. What a difference in volume I took a few days and some bad words but it was worth it in the end.

 

[1_v8_merc]

Wow this post got brought back from the dead?

But anyways, I also followed the directions from cliffs site about
the horn install, I didn't quite understand HOW it worked exactly,
but I followed the diagram with the relay and fuse, etc, and it worked!

However after hooking various highway blasters up, they were only
loud in the driveway, the wind took the loudness right out of em when
I was on the highway or even at lower speeds.

I did some research and went with an airhorn setup instead.
Ran some Serie 2000 Ferrari airhorns, with a seperate compressor
hooked up in the rear.

WOW, I will never ever use anything without a compressor again, it's just not the same!

Any car or bike i ever get, ripping stock setup out.... And throwing an airhorn setup in, easy and annoying enough to get the police called on you fast.
But it gets your point across, and could save your ass!

 

[spyug]

Thanks for keeping my post alive folks. Very gratifying.

A year or more later and I'm stilll running without a relay. I had meant to do it early this season but with the Kat project and the new rider mentoring and the house renos and....well you get the picture. It hasn't yet been done. I've added it to the list of coming winter projects.

I haven't noted any problems with it and they are certainly loud enough to get folks attention. With the "student" riding ahead of me, I can get her attention with a toot. I've blasted a cager or two as well and they always seem to get the point so I guess I'm really in no rush.

The bottom line is that a horn upgrade, I think, is still one of the absolute best upgrades you can do. I'd be doing that on any new to me bike from here on in.

Cheers all.
Spyug

 

[midnightcafe]

I thought I'd make my post here to contribute rather than start a new thread.

Stebel Nautilus Airhorn. 139 dB. Stock horns average at about 97 dB. If you're not familiar with the dB scale, 100dB is the relative sound of a jackhammer from 1m, and the human threshold of pain is 137.5dB. So yes, you will be heard with this!

Mounted on the battery box. Fits behind the air pods, and its position still lets it dump enough sound to be heard from far away-my friends came out of our house when I first tested it, telling me they thought they heard a train... (we don't live near train tracks!)

Very easy to install. It comes with a four way relay, which I mounted on the battery box again. The instructions in the box weren't too helpful so follow this diagram:

This was the safest, cheapest mod I've made on any project. I highly recommend anyone to do this, It costs $40 on Amazon and can remind cage drivers that motorcycles exist.

 

[midnightcafe]

here's a more appropriate sound clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8JsYLOIOX8&feature=related

scares the bejeesus out of you!

 

[Guest]

It's not possible to get the intensity through in a sound clip....this horn generates a sound you can physically feel, if one is brave (or stupid) enough to sound it in an enclosed space. It is a bit bulky for the standard location....I ended up separating the compressor from the horn to be able to mount it normally, but have yet to install it....actually forgot all about it.

 

[MrZufall]

Exactly the sound I'm after! Thanks!

Been using Fiamms on my 1000 for decades, found that when used the driver in the car starts looking for that truck that's about to run them over. Good investment.