Fitted An Air Horn

[Bones]

I bought a Stebel type air horn a while ago, and tried to fit it where the original horn goes, but just wouldn't fit so gave up and put it on the wife's car.

She never uses the horn, so I pulled it off and it sat for ages on the bench. I had to pull the fairing off to rearrange the braided brake lines I fitted the week before because I wasn't happy with how they sat, so thought I'd have another crack at fitting it.

It just wont fit with the original horn bracket, so I found some scrap alumimum and made a new one.



Just as a safety measure in case the horn ever moved, I made another bracket to cradle the compressor.






                                         It fits in that spot good.



                                No clearance problems anywhere going lock to lock



                                   Found an old relay, wired it up, and job done.





                                             Cut me off now and you'll hear it.

                                                                  Tony.

[simi_ed]

Tony, does that clear your headlight?  It would never clear the rear of mine, since I have the HID H4; it has a small solenoid on the back the moves the shutter for high/low beam.  BTW, I tried your mounting position & it wouldn't clear. 

[Bones]

Yes, I sat the fairing back on during fitting to make sure it cleared. lock to lock it just kisses the big rubber cover that goes around the bulb. It's all back together now, and no issue with hitting anything. ( standard bulb )

That's why I had to make the new bracket Ed, it won't fit with the standard bracket.

                                                                                      Tony.

[FJmonkey]

Ed, the new style of DDM H4 HID is almost the same size as the standard H4, very nice and compact. No clearance issues with OEM H4 installs. I was shocked when I saw it when I got a set for the wife... Too bad, the FJ has the new smaller lamp with a spare....  

[airheadPete]

Hmmm, I just picked up one of those. It's probably going on the KLR first, then one for the FJ. Is it as stinking loud as everybody says? (I hope so.)
I wasn't sure about an FJ mounting position; this looks good. Did you use the relay and your own harness?

[movenon]

Tony, does that clear your headlight?  It would never clear the rear of mine, since I have the HID H4; it has a small solenoid on the back the moves the shutter for high/low beam.  BTW, I tried your mounting position & it wouldn't clear.  

+1 on Ed's thought.  If you put it there can you remove it with the fairing on when you have to change a headlight bulb?

At present I am "hornless" I removed mine and spiced the wires together.... (I know it's required by law) To tell you the truth I am not convinced a horn has saved anybody on a bike. Nice to make noise at some idiot but its usually after the fact (so they look over your way to check out your middle finger).  But to bring myself into compliance with the law I am thinking about a couple of Hella supertones mounted on the sides.
George  

[Bones]

Yes George, Even though I haven't tried it yet, the bolt that holds the horn is easily accessable. Just loosen the nut a bit, slid horn off it's mount, and change bulb. That's one reason why I mounted the relay to the horn, to keep it all together.

This is on a 93 3xw, so not sure if there would be any clearance issues with other models inside the fairings.

[movenon]

Yes George, Even though I haven't tried it yet, the bolt that holds the horn is easily accessable. Just loosen the nut a bit, slid horn off it's mount, and change bulb. That's one reason why I mounted the relay to the horn, to keep it all together.

This is on a 93 3xw, so not sure if there would be any clearance issues with other models inside the fairings.

Sounds like you got it figured out. Mine is a 1990 so it is close to the same.  Changing those headlight bulbs are kind of a pain until you do one or two. Damn things never fail when you don't need them   Its always at night in some dark ass parking lot. If you are lucky its not raining....

I have mine wired with a relay but no horns yet. Work in progress. Yours is looking good.
George 

[Bones]

Hmmm, I just picked up one of those. It's probably going on the KLR first, then one for the FJ. Is it as stinking loud as everybody says? (I hope so.)
I wasn't sure about an FJ mounting position; this looks good. Did you use the relay and your own harness?

Yeah, their loud alright.

Had to run a power wire ( fused of course ) from the battery to the relay, and used the original wires as a trigger and earth. You have to run an earth wire from the compressor to the relay together with the original horn earth wire otherwise it won't work.

                                                             Tony.

[ribbert]

Tony, you are going to love that horn.
I have mine mounted in much the same spot but vertically so the 'horn' is pointing forward and slightly under the fairing. It still hurts my ears! You are going to get a lot of that noise coming back at you.

Many people reckon these don't last long. They're right, if you ignore them. About every 18 mths or so mine would start getting weak, and if left, eventually stop.

I removed it, separated the compressor from the horn (no noise), got a 12v battery on the bench and spun it over while spraying some WD 40 in the inlet to clean it and holding a rag over the outlet. I then did the same with a small amount (drops) of oil ( WD40 is not a lubricant) and spun it over for about 20 secs until the excess oil stopped spitting out.

I do this roughly once a year now and 60,000kms later it is as good as the day I fitted it. Like you, I have it mounted so all I have to do its loosen the nut a bit and slide it up to remove it, only takes a minute. I have not had a problem with the whole thing mounted on the one bolt.

A bit of information to do what you like with: Every reference to mounting these, including the instructions that come with it, tell you the compressor must be mounted only so many degrees (I think it was about 15 or 20)  from the vertical. I'm not offering an opinion on the importance of that or what impact it might have on the horn but given the time you've had it before fitting it to the bike I thought it possible you may have forgotten or missed it. As I said, do what you like with the info, I'm just passing it on.

Mine is mounted where the old horn was. It is a very tight fit.



You can just see the tip of the horn when viewed from a normal angle and wouldn't know it was there unless it was pointed out.

For any one considering these excellent horns and looking at different mounting options, the horn and the compressor are designed so they can be mounted seperately and connected with a length of hose.

Noel

[Bones]

Actually Noel, just thinking about it I do recall reading something about mounting them upright, but honestly can't see what difference it would make.

After all it's only an electric motor driving a fan I guess, so you'd think they could be mounted upside down if nessessary and still work ok.

I'll trial it mounted sideways, and if it starts playing up will have to mount it upright like yours. By the way, how's your mounted, did you have to make up a new bracket as well.

                                                           Tony.

[ribbert]

Actually Noel, just thinking about it I do recall reading something about mounting them upright, but honestly can't see what difference it would make.
                                                         Tony.

I can only speculate, but I imagine the bushings are designed to take the load that way. Your right about it just being a motor and a fan but it is an odd sort of instruction to give unless there was a reason.
Let's know how it goes.
I remember going out when I first fitted mine hoping someone would cut me off so I could see their reaction. They sure make livestock scatter in the country. I was serious when I said it hurts my ears.

Noel

[giantkiller]

A long time ago. I put one on my smart and was told it was to allow any water that got in it to drain. And that you should try to mount it so that it wouldn't be in any direct line of water spray.
mine saved my smart many times. I didn't do any maintenance. And it did quit @about 57,000 miles. I put one on my 86. I mounted it under the seat. Out of any spray. But yours is probably louder out in front like that.

Thanks for the maintenance tip. I'll have to see if I can get the old one working again.

[FJ_Hooligan]

At present I am "hornless" I removed mine and spiced the wires together....

You connected the horn wires together without a load between them?  Have you pressed the horn button since you did this? 

That is now a direct short to ground which should blow the fuse.

[Pat Conlon]

At present I am "hornless" I removed mine and spiced the wires together....

You connected the horn wires together without a load between them?  Have you pressed the horn button since you did this? 

That is now a direct short to ground which should blow the fuse.

^^Exactly
I too am hornless. My plan for the horn button is a PTT for my Kenwood radios....