Horns

[Guest robbrugg]

So I thoroghly read the thread

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...1&hl=horns&st=0

 

...but I feel that it's not totally clear.

 

1) Does each horn need a separate relay?

2) What kind (part #) of relay is needed? 10 amp? 15amp?

3) Stock wires go directly to relays?

4) The Fiamm horns can be mounted to stock bracket?

5) What mods need to be made to the existing wiring?

6) What is the need for a high and low?

 

7) What are the steps of all this?

 

When I get enough info and perform this procedure, I will take pics every step of the way.

[dbdicker]

Maybe I'm a fire waiting to happen, but I replaced the relays with the quality GEI relays everyone's been touting and then substituted these These Fiamm horns from the JC Whitney catalog. They fit as if they were stock on the stock brackets. I used one high and one low tone horn. Sounds great and makes me feel much more safe. Didn't bother with new circuits or anything, so if I blast a truck and my gauges catch on fire, I've got no one to blame but myself

 

So far, however, all seems to be working beautifully..........sometimes the solution is simple

 

Dan

[al_roethlisberger]

If you are installing horns like these, you really should use a separate relay. To answer your questions....

 

1) No, just one relay supplying power to the horn(s)

 

2) Any standard automotive relay, such as those found at your local Kragen/Autozone/etc.... that is used on horn, foglight kits. They are usually 20 or 30amp, but even these are probably overkill... and super-cheap... and usually include a mounting hole/bracket, so they are easy to mount just about anywhere.

 

3) yes

 

4) maybe, depends on size/location of various components on the bike(which can vary) and the horns themselves, but generally "yes"

 

5) No modification to the stock wiring is required, other than running a new hot lead from the battery, and perhaps a new ground as well

 

6) These horns come in "tuned sets", of a "high" and "low" toned horn to achieve the tone you hear when they both blow.

 

7) The thread you referenced above pretty much has all the steps and components required, although the information is spread out among the posts.

 

 

Basically, you are simply mounting the new horns to the stock location, and after removing the wiring connectors from the stock horns, hooking up one of the hookups from the old horns to the trigger/switch connections on the new relay.

 

Then you need to hookup your new power source to the relay.

 

The relay will come with instructions on which terminals you connect what to, and there are tons of online examples of others that have done similar on other bikes, such as:

 

http://www.armchair.mb.ca/wings/relays/

 

 

That's really about it

 

Hope that helps

 

al

[Guest robbrugg]

Al - you are the BEST!!! Thanks for that link - I will study that big time!

 

Robb

[jrt]

Don't make it overly complicated. It's really a simple process of using the existing horn wiring to activate the new horn relay that you install.

While you are fiddling with all that, you can clean the ground to the voltage regulator and/or add another ground to the engine block.

 

J

[V11UK]

so if I blast a truck and my gauges catch on fire, I've got no one to blame but myself 

 

That statement brightened up an otherwise dull day at the office - thank you

[dbdicker]

Ah so YOU'RE the one guy who bought that goofy euro-spec Yamaha BT1100, eh???? At least they sold one of 'em

 

And I thought that 70-hp, big bore, weird looking V-twin powered semi-trailies were the singular purvey of Italian motorcycle manufacturers, looking to retain their 'individuality' while going broke...........

 

That bike is SO out of line with the rest of the bikes on offer from Yamaha, you wonder what nut got into the new products drawing room while all the rest of the Jap moto-drones were out to lunch...............

 

Jus' kiddin'...of course......enjoy the bike!

 

Dan

[docc]

Apparently each Fiamm horn draws about 3 amps. Since I used the cast off early Siemans relays I dedicated one to each horn. Sort of a redundant system in case one failed. I also used 14 guage wire for the fused hot which is probably also overkill.

 

Since the current for the horns and lights run through the light switch, just upgrading relays won't protect the switch. And while a cockpit fire would be spectacular ( and lead to months of heavy drinking ) it is more likely that one day the switch will just quit, the headlamp will go out and the horns won't blow.

[Guest rotorhead]

Take a look at this post for more info

 

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=201&hl=

 

I swear by those Fiamm El Grandes!! Wakes up the Gendarmerie in the next county!!

[gthyni]

And I thought that 70-hp, big bore, weird looking V-twin powered semi-trailies were the singular purvey of  Italian motorcycle manufacturers, looking to retain their 'individuality' while going broke...........

 

That bike is SO out of line with the rest of the bikes on offer from Yamaha, you wonder what nut got into the new products drawing room while all the rest of the Jap moto-drones were out to lunch...............

 

Guess what,

the Bulldog is designed and built by Yamaha Italia!

 

[V11UK]

Ah so YOU'RE the one guy who bought that goofy euro-spec Yamaha BT1100, eh????  At least they sold one of 'em   

Yup, I'm one of the select few in the UK who've bought a Bulldog. Not the most powerful thing on the block I grant you but it does what it says on the tin - a high quality, comfortable shaft drive V-twin which is ultra reliable. Viva la difference! as they say in France. I like it anyway

 

BTW Belgarda Yamaha in Italy make the BT1100. See, the Italian's do have a sense of humour....

[Guest robbrugg]

Anyway - what if I installed only one horn? Would that work? It would still be freakin loud, right? Could I skip all the relay stuff and just "hook it up"?

 

Robb

[docc]

One Fiamm or other automotive style trumpet horn will be louder than the stock squeekers. And they do only draw about 3 amps. Really it should work a long, long time drawing through the switch. There are those who have automotive horns just plugged up to the stock harness. They certainly are not as loud ( as a relay set-up with dedicated, fused hot ) and the longevity of the switch is a concern.

[Guest robbrugg]

I have almost all the stuff to install my new horns, and have read everything I can find. I still have a couple questions though:

 

1) Do I need a fuse in between the battery and relay? Is there a stock fuse already in place? What KIND of fuse do I need?

2) Where EXACTLY is the point on the battery that the hot lead gets attached to?

3) Is 18 gauge heavy enough?

4) Does the wire from the ground go to the relay, or to the horns?

 

Thanks for all the help! - Robb

[al_roethlisberger]

I have almost all the stuff to install my new horns, and have read everything I can find. I still have a couple questions though:

 

1) Do I need a fuse in between the battery and relay? Is there a stock fuse already in place? What KIND of fuse do I need?

2) Where EXACTLY is the point on the battery that the hot lead gets attached to?

3) Is 18 gauge heavy enough?

4) Does the wire from the ground go to the relay, or to the horns?

 

Thanks for all the help! - Robb

 

 

...OK Rob, you're starting to scare me here

 

But seriously... all perfectly reasonable questions, that have simple answers, but in all seriousness.... based on the questions you are asking, I would recommend taking a bit longer to study and understand the basics of the electrical system you are working with. It sounds like you may still have some basic questions in this regard, that may make it easy for a mistake to be made, or hard for you to troubleshoot in the event of a problem.

 

Otherwise there is some degree of risk of damaging your wiring harness, and switchgear if you end up essentially doing a battery "load test" by send a full battery's worth of juice the wrong way in this circuit

 

But here are the answers to your questions:

 

1) There will be TWO power leads going to the relay.

a- The first power lead is the switch(ing) power. This is the positive lead that used to actually power the OEM horns. This will send 12V when the horn button is depressed, and in this case will now be used to trigger the relay switch.

b-The second power lead is the new one you will be running directly from the battery to the switched portion of the relay, if I recall will be either terminal 30 or 87.

 

But in both cases, any power from the battery that enters the harness should be fused. In case (a), yes this wire is already fused and has a relay, so you don't need to worry. But in the second case, you absolutely need to install an inline fuse as close as possible to the positive terminal connection at the battery. You may need to test a couple times to find the right value, but I'd guess that a 5 or 7.5amp fuse would be about right for this application.

 

2) The positive battery terminal. You should crimp a ring terminal on the end of power lead, and just "stack" this ring along with the couple others under the positive terminal bolt. You will need the ring size that is typical for 14/16 gauge wire. If you have bought a premade/molded blade-type fuse holder(available in the electrics/trailer section of any auto parts store) , you can just use one of it's leads as the wire to connect to the positive terminal via the crimped-on ring terminal, and crimp the other lead to your power cable, thus minimizing the number of junctions/splices/crimps.... which is always a good thing.

 

3) 18 would probalby work fine, but as long as you are going to the trouble, I would use at the minimum 16, just because.... and I would not go beyond 12, as that's overkill and becomes hard to handle. 14 or 16 should be ideal.

 

4) Like question #1, the answer is "both". You will have two ground wires.

a- The first ground wire will be, like question "1a", the original ground wire from the switched harness, and will need to be attached to the opposite pin(86?, I forget off-hand) for the positive trigger to be able to actuate the relay switch.

b- You will need a new ground for the horns(or splice into the original ground in part a above), and run it to the frame. If you are going to the trouble of running all this direct power to the horns, you may as well run a good new unobstructed ground though instead of piggy-backing on the old circuit.

 

 

Well, I hope that clears it up some for you.

 

Good luck. This really is an easy modification, but do take your time and double-check your wiring before powering it all up.

 

Cheers

al