Keep Your Stock Horns & Save Your Money!

[Hoomgar]

I know I haven't discovered a new moon orbiting Pluto or anything here but I was happy enough with this that I thought I would share it. If your like me and need to save every penny you can when you can for your bike refurbishing project then this tip might help a bit.

My horns on my bike over the 28 years of it's existence had gotten to the point that they sounded like a sick goose. Sometimes only the high one would work and sometimes only the low one would work and then other times they both would fire but it always sounded very weak and sickly. It had been like that for about the last 3 years now.

I was getting ready to buy new horns and go to a lot of bother remounting them and getting enough juice to them to make sure they work right and don't fry anything.

Today, while putting my bike back together to get it ready for the rebuilt engine install I was at the point with the wiring that I needed to reinstall the horns. That's when I remembered what they had been like.

All I did was this. I took the horns apart as far as I could without drilling out any rivets and cleaned them really good. I think the main thing that helped was taking the front diaphragm cover off and cleaning that. I cleaned everything with my fingers and some WD40 and then wiped them all dry and reassembled the units. I also backed out the tone adjustment screws on both and reseated them while readjusting them.

I put them back together in the mounting bracket and tested them with my motorcycle battery. WOW! They work like new! I mean it. They sound just like brand new.

If you are OK with the sound of your stock horns and yours still work but not really well then this tip might save you from having to replace them. The whole job took me less than 15 minutes.

Here is a pic and a sound byte to see and hear them. The sound byte isn't great because the horns are so loud that it was clipping my audio recording. I edited it a bit to clean it up but it gives you a good idea. You can hear they they sound fresh and responsive. Not dead quiet and lethargic like they were before.

Click here to hear them

[crag antler]

WOW. Good job Mark.
Now Donna wants to know how I snuck a bike past her up the stairs 8O 8O 8O

[Hoomgar]

WOW. Good job Mark.
Now Donna wants to know how I snuck a bike past her up the stairs 8O 8O 8O

Well it wasn't by beeping the horn

[Mysuzyq]

Very cool, thanks!



Tony.

[Griffin]

Thanks Mark. Only one horn works on the 550. It's weak and actually has a half second delay.

I'll clean 'em up and see what happens.

[Poot]

awesome...im gonna do that right now

[Evil Hobbit]

I did the same thing last summer one horns worked, sometimes and the other sounded like a strangled duck. after the one works great and the one that worked sometimes doesn't any more. the up side is I only need to replace one

[mlaalm]

:P Thanks for the "Tip". I bought my 1150ES last month and debated on an air horn system. After cleaning and backing out adj. screw. HUGE difference . . . I'll feel alot safer next ride, thanks for sharing . . . Mike 8)

[argonsagas]

Excellent idea, Mark.

Here's another:

Look on the back of your horns for a tiny bolt with a lock nut on it.

Loosen the lock nut and try fiddling with the adjuster bolt, and you might be surprised at how much more you can get out of your horn.

Be careful doing this, as too much is too much, and you can damage the horn....it takes only a small amount of adjustment.

I did this with the horns that came with my GK...one was so low the mechanic refused it, and said it had to be replaced for the required mechanical certification, the other was an obvious replacement, as it was dead.

Swapped them with the G horns temporarily and took the "bad" ones home for the mentioned adjustment.

One returned to life and the other improved dramatically.

Both horns are now louder than they were brand-new. In fact, they are so much louder that you would not believe these are the original Suzuki horns.

[Hoomgar]

Excellent idea, Mark.

Here's another:

Look on the back of your horns for a tiny bolt with a lock nut on it.

Loosen the lock nut and try fiddling with the adjuster bolt, and you might be surprised at how much more you can get out of your horn.

Be careful doing this, as too much is too much, and you can damage the horn....it takes only a small amount of adjustment.

I did this with the horns that came with my GK...one was so low the mechanic refused it, and said it had to be replaced for the required mechanical certification, the other was an obvious replacement, as it was dead.

Swapped them with the G horns temporarily and took the "bad" ones home for the mentioned adjustment.

One returned to life and the other improved dramatically.

Both horns are now louder than they were brand-new. In fact, they are so much louder that you would not believe these are the original Suzuki horns.

Yes sir. Worked like a charm. If you re-read above Ron you'll see where that is part of the process I mention. See bolded, quoted text below:

All I did was this. I took the horns apart as far as I could without drilling out any rivets and cleaned them really good. I think the main thing that helped was taking the front diaphragm cover off and cleaning that. I cleaned everything with my fingers and some WD40 and then wiped them all dry and reassembled the units. I also backed out the tone adjustment screws on both and reseated them while readjusting them.

You went into a little better detail on the procedure than I did but that is exactly what I was talking about. My results were as you describe. The horns are most likely louder now than they were new!

I was very happy with this

[chrissinc]

Was this tip sponsered by ING direct?


:-)

[retrex]

Making your horn hornier

I have actually peeled back the metal ring that holds the horn together, disassembeld and cleaned the corrosion from the inside electricals. Used a Dremel to make a slice in lip wraped over the back edge and peeled it back with needle nose pliers. Painted the paintable parts, replaced the paper gasket with RV silicone and reassembled the whole shebang. Hooked it up and it didn't work. Adjusted the screw/nut thing and it barely worked. Used fine grit sandpaper on both sides of the horn terminals and then it worked really good. Don't forget to clean the terminal contacts, corrosion builds up over time. I now have two very good stock OEM horns.

[saaz]

Hmm..I thought everyone knows that the horns need adjusting ever 10 years or so...Make sure the wirng is ok and the horn button contact, than adjust the screws at the back. A slight adjustment makes a big difference. Pointing the horns forward rather than at the top of the motor helps as well! I still have the originals on mine.

[Ions001]

Mark, you are the man!

My horn sounded so bad before that my wife had asked me not to honk a quick goodbye to her as I rode off. She said that the sound that came out actually made her feel sad!

I love repairs that don't cost anything but elbow grease, not matter how small.

[BriTXbike]

Sorry gotta bring this string back to life.

I read this thread this morning and immed. went out and pulled them off. I was amazed how much louder I got them after cleaning and tuning them in 25 minutes! 8O

Saved me $50 for a new set. Maybe not as loud as I wanted but money I can apply towards some other fixes