Serious horns

[callison]

I ditched the Nippon Denso "squeakers" on my V11S and added

the loudest Fiamm electric horns I could find. The high note one

is 130db and the low one is 138db. Now my bike sounds like a

truck!!! I made a quick and dirty bracket out of aluminum bar

stock, hose clamped it to the cross-member behind the oil cooler.

Getting it in place was a real pain, the oil cooler had to be unbolted

to allow some hand access. Getting the nuts and wires onto the

horns in such a constrained location was a pain as well. Running

the wires meant removing the gas tank, but I took that oppor-

tunity to remove the vapor recovery canisters and (most) of the

associated plumbing. The whole job took about two hours because

I'm all thumbs and the two horn nuts were pretty much inaccesible.

The horn relay is fed directly from the battery via a fuse and a rea-

sonably heavy gauge wire runs forward to the horns. Another wire

runs from the original horn wire back to the relay to actuate it.

The other terminals on the horns are plugged into the original

horn grounds.

 

The sound is awesome!!!

 

 

 

Right side.

 

 

 

Left side. Bracket just barely visible. Note the high tech hose clamp

attachment hardware...

 

 

 

The relay for the horn. More high tech hose clamp mounting hardware!

[Guest k.tx]

Carl,

 

Thanks for the pictures, I also want to get rid of those lousy whiners on my V11 Sport. I'm going to get Fiamm El Grande Twin for mine now.

 

Konrad

 

 

see http://www.fiammamerica.com/Product.asp?ProductID=167

[RichMaund]

I found I could mount a pair of red & black LOUD Fiamms right onto the stock brackets! They're great!

[Guest k.tx]

Well, I was at Autozone a few hours ago, they are big and they had just black in stock. I wish I would find a set like I got on my Quota. With those you can wake a dead bull up.

I may have to tinker around a bit until I find some for my needs

[callison]

Sorry about the images, my web site ran out of space while doing some other stuff, so I deleted a bunch of stuff. They're back.

[Guest k.tx]

Finally I got the horns from Bosch via a BMW dealership, cables had to be ordered separate. The original brackets remains, all I had to do was cut the cables to the proper length and crimp connectors, take the stock buzzers of, bolt on and adjust the Bosch horns, done.

I'll post a picture as soon as I get to it.

The horns are the same as on a K1200 LT but the price was a bit high.

U.S. $38 a piece + $12 for the cables.

Pricy but no messing with adding relay's and brackets :-)

 

Konrad

[callison]

Uh huh. And is all of the current to run the horns going through the horn switch? If so, I predict an eventual failure (been there - done that). The 138db Fiamm's cost $13 each and can even wake up SUV drivers - a severe necessity here in Kalifornia. Believe it or not, I'm considereing adding a second set for road use. Relays I have tons of from my old BMW 630csi. What a piece of junk, the relays were all that were worth saving.

[Guest k.tx]

Good thought about the switch dimension and the current, did you actually measure it with the stock horns?

[docc]

The bag of Siemans relays we all have jerked out of our bikes: are they good for anything? Can they be used as a horn relay?

 

EDIT/ April 2007: The Siemans lasted for about three years and starting giving up. I'm trying the Bosch now .

 

EDIT/ Sept 2009: The Bosch have outlasted the FIAMMS.

[callison]

The old Siemens relays are perfect for horn relays. And... you have spares

 

You don't need to measure the current draw on a horn if the switch melts when there's no relay. It sort of speaks (or not ) for itself.

[docc]

Carl,

I'm assuming the stock 'sqeekers' work through the switch with no relay? I was thinking of sourcing Fiamms at the local 'Ad vanced' if they're all the same. My '89 Taurus wagon had Fiamms. They'd work, yes? Probably way cheap from the bone-yard.

[callison]

The sport model Guzzis don't get a horn relay. Miserable oversight if you ask me. A set of 138db Fiamms will set you back less than $30 at an auto parts store in California. I assume they would be reasonably close to the same price elsewhere. 138db is much louder than the stock horns on any cars I'm aware of. Plus you don't have to make a trip to the wrecker and get dirty pulling something that may not work. Really not worth it. I use my freakin loud Fiamms frequently. They're life savers for sure. So, what I'm saying here is, if you value your life, just buy the loudest horns and don't try to cheap out. I'm being didactic, but the first time you save yourself with a loud blast, you'll consider the money well spent.

[docc]

Carl,

Well said. I have to agree with you on the horns. Last year I got flipped off the bike by a BIG dog. Since then I #1, STOP ( not just slow) for dogs and #2, use the horns copiously. You'd think they wouldn't like the 'squeakers' but the noise just seems to draw them closer like they think it's a mouse and would be fun to play with or eat.

[docc]

Rats! Now I'm really confusede@! I got the Fiamms from the local Advanced Auto (about $25). I figured to just hook'em up on the stock wires and see (hear) what they sound like. Like a Cadillac!

 

The squeakers say "12v, 3 a, 105db". The Fiamms say"132 db" with no amperage claim.

 

So I wire in a digital amp meter in series with the hot to the right horn. Followed shortly by the confusion. Blowing the horns amperage starts about 2.0 and drops OFF to about 0.5 amps. I tried unhooking the left horn but then the right would not blow by itself.

 

If the amperage is really that low then they pull no more than the 3 amps stamped on the squeakers. WHAT GIVES??

[Guest k.tx]

Docc,

 

I got a result like you and that's why I tried to ask Carl if he actually measured the current. I used a Fluke meter and my good old BBC analogue meter. I'll repeat the measurement tomorrow for the purpose of the detail and to make sure the details are documented.

 

Later

Konrad