Serious horns

[callison]

Er, is that "the horn button provides 12V to the relay ?"

 

You betcha. Stock, the horn button provides 12 volts to the horns. If you disconnect the grey/black wires from the horns and route that to the relay, then the horn button provides 12 volts to the relay. The schematic is on my web page in full glorious color. Headlight, Horn, Start & Run switch all get their power from fuse #5 and use that to energize their various functions. The Guzzi horns are always at ground. Some bikes wire the horns hot and use the horn button to ground the other side of the horn because it only takes one wire in the handlebar to do the job. Guzzi's are the other way around, probably because some models DO have a horn relay (my 1997California does) and so the wiring pre-exists whether a relay is incorporated or not. IMHO, not using a relay is pretty cheesy.

[Bill Hagan]

Just finished wiring in a pair of the Siemen's relays for the Fiamms. Mounted the relays in tandem along the right side of the frame roouting the stockhorn wires carefully over to them. Wired 14 guage from the battery trough a fuse holder with a cap on it. Use heat shrink and zip ties all along the existing wiring harness. Made up two separate harnesses with a ground (from the right side fuel pump bolts) and the hot from each relay down to the horns (again, heatshrink , zip ties and dielectric grease).****

 

Can you post or email a pic or two of your setup, docc?

 

I have those horns, but, before installing, ordered Hellas from Griots only to find they are platter-size.

[docc]

I'll have to wait until the tank is off to photo the relays. I mounted them along side the right of the spine. The stock horn wires reach them without modification. The 12V hot comes from the junction block after the stack of terminals began to eat into my psyche.

[al_roethlisberger]

Looks good

 

Here is my horn relocation for the LeMans: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...c=1499&hl=horns

 

 

...it really cleans up the front

[jrt]

Al, maybe it's just the angle, but it looks like your horns are pointed into the fairing and most of the noise would be directed back at you. Wouldn't that just counteract having loud horns?

J

[al_roethlisberger]

Well, because of the mounting location I chose, the angle of the horns as shown are pretty much the only choice in regard to "fit"... clearing the subframe, steering damper(missing/removed in the photo), fuel tank, etc...

 

That being said, no, they are "loud as hell" Oh sure, I can hear them from the "drivers seat", but there's no trouble hearing them outside the bike.... about 1000x louder than the stockers(OK, that's an exaggeration ... but many times louder for sure )

 

...and they're "stealth"

 

al

[belfastguzzi]

err.. serious horns. Anyone got a part number?

[al_roethlisberger]

Which ones? I don't have a part number, but mine are the FIAMM horns(one high, one low) from your local Auto-Zone, Kragens, or equivalent. I think they are about $10 each?

 

al

 

 

P.S.

 

Mine weren't actually marked FIAMM, but some other brand, but if you looked at through the plastic, I think they said FIAMM somewhere, and the packaging was exactly the same as a similar FIAMM air-horn set next to them. Anyway, they're really easy to find.

[belfastguzzi]

Sorry Al, I was being naughty. I meant for the horns in the attached picture. I think they would make a good warning to approaching Volvos if attached to the front of cycle, or perhaps helmet.

[docc]

What good are 'serious horns' without serious hooves?

[belfastguzzi]

What good are 'serious horns' without serious hooves?

Otto seems to have both issues taken care of.

[Baldini]

BelfastGuzzi,

You seem to have mastered the art of small photograph insertion. Impressive.

KB,Cymru

[docc]

Can you post a pic or two of your setup, docc?

Bill,

 

Here's a shot of the relays zip-tied to the right side of the spine. The stock horn wires will reach them there and they are grounded to the mount for the fuel pump using star washers. The relays are the old Siemans that came out of the bike when the Bosch went in. I'm theorizing they'll be OK since each is only carrying 3 amps and they are only activated when the horns are on. Still , I elected for a redundant back-up circuit by using a separate relay for each horn.

 

EDIT, November 2006: One of the horns started blowing poorly. I swapped out the Seimens for the Bosch relays and all is well. I'm using GEI for the bikes main relays now.

 

EDIT, September 2009: The bike's main relays have moved on to sealed OMRON while the Bosch relays (one for each horn) continue to blow FIAMMS though a 10 amp fuse.

[Guest rotorhead]

err.. serious horns. Anyone got a part number?

 

 

 

 

I bought a pair, hi and lo, from the NAPA dealer, PN 730-1883. They are the Fiamm El Grande and are red, black, and chrome. I paid 26 dollars for the set.

[Guest ratchethack]

I've added a pair of Fiamm Freeway Blasters, wired direct from the battery, and switched through a relay. I've been running them for about a year now. They're hidden behind a Stucchi quarter-fairing so that they're nearly invisible, yet the "bell" part peeks out, so they still have very good forward aim. I've found that they work far better than the stock horns as critically important, err... death-deferring instruments. They seem to be able to dredge up even the dim attention of the feeblest of brain-dead super-slab slugs, some of whom are SO DENSE that they'll actually look STRAIGHT AT YOU before pulling into your lane or cutting you off like you aren't there... Don't get me started...

 

The Fiamms need to be attached carefully, so that the single mounting stud isn't anchored too closely to anything with much mass, or it will become a vibration sink, impeding full stroke of the coils and diaphragms, robbing the horns of their high-decibel power. For this reason the steel mounting brackets provided with the Fiamms should not be shortened. In any event, the brackets don't seem to like extended Guzzi big-twin vibration. Mine eventually fractured, both sides. The aluminum strap I tried as a replacement lasted only a few days before letting go the same way.

 

Guzzi seems to understand this pretty well, because the stock horns on my bike are still in place and fully functional via the stock switch. They're each mounted with a pair of thin, reed-like stainless steel straps, sandwiched together.

 

Office supply outlets carry large stainless-steel banker's clasps of varying sizes. One of the larger sizes (18mm or 13/16" wide) is just right for fabricating similar semi-flexible reed-like brackets. As in the stock horn setup, the banker's clasp brackets seem to give the Fiamms the freedom to vibrate adequately for full volume, yet resist cracking from engine vibes.

 

Hope this helps somebody who might have had the same problem.