I want a louder horn: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

[[Category:Electrical & Lighting]]

[[Category:Controls & Cables]]

__TOC__

That little "beep, beep" of the OEM horn, ''IF'' heard by anyone, only makes them look around for a clown car. Since you're not in a clown car, and you want people to acknowledge your presence, a better horn is in order.

Line 19:

Line 20:

The low-tone horn is still relatively high-toned. It cuts through noise quite well. The difference is that when people hear a deep horn, they get more of that instinctive "Oh crap, what's going to smoosh me?" feeling. You want them to have the feeling that they're impinging on your space. It seems to produce a more pronounced effect than the high-tone horn. When you hear that low-tone horn, you look around for the big Cadillac that's about to turn your car into junkyard art.

It's a direct replacement. No relay is necessary (~~but~~ see below). It includes a bracket for mounting. You can either remove the nut holding the horn to the bracket and retain the stock bracket, or remove the one bolt holding the bracket to the bike and use the new bracket instead. Just try and see; the brackets are very similar. Installation time is estimated at "120 seconds".

It's a direct replacement. No relay is necessary, but it is recommended (see below). It includes a bracket for mounting. You can either remove the nut holding the horn to the bracket and retain the stock bracket, or remove the one bolt holding the bracket to the bike and use the new bracket instead. Just try and see; the brackets are very similar. Installation time is estimated at "120 seconds".

====Notes on the horn====

Line 28:

Line 29:

*In the event of a fault in the wiring, the horn is most likely to fail ON, not OFF. This is most likely a safety feature.

The top picture shows the stock horn on a naked bike. The bottom picture shows the new horn installed on a bike with a fairing.

Line 61:

Line 58:

[[Image:IMG_1895.jpg|150px]] [[Image:IMG_1899.jpg|100px]]

~~====Using a relay====~~

To provide the most power, and thus get the most noise, you can wire a relay to power your horn. This isn't necessary; some people do, some don't. The OEM harness runs the horn power through a mile of wiring and a dozen different connections until it gets to the horn switch. There are lots of places for voltage drop. So, with [[How do relays work?|a relay]], you use the OEM wiring to power the relay, and put in new wiring for the horn. The relay uses a small amount of power (the original switch circuit) to turn on and off a bigger amount of power (the new heavier wire) to the horn. This is true for bigger headlights or any other higher-current-draw accessories you want to add to your motorcycle.

==Using a relay to power your horn==

To provide the most power, and thus get the most noise, you can wire a relay to power your horn. This isn't necessary; some people do, some don't. The OEM harness runs the horn power through a mile of wiring and a dozen different connections until it gets to the horn switch. There are lots of places for voltage drop. So, with [[How do relays work?|a relay]], you use the OEM wiring to power the relay and put in new wiring for the horn. The relay uses a small amount of power (the original switch circuit) to turn on and off a bigger amount of power (the new heavier wire) to the horn. This is true for bigger headlights or any other higher-current-draw accessories you want to add to your motorcycle.

====Stuff you'll need====

All the components for this project are available at Wal-Mart/Radio Shack/Autozone-ish stores.

*A 30 amp, four-pin relay. Numbers on the relay pins should be 30, 85, 86, and 87.

:[[image:relay posts.jpg|150px]]

*An inline fuse holder and 10 amp fuse.

:[[image:fuse holder-2.jpg|150px]]

*Several feet of flexible ''stranded'' copper wire. 14 gauge is generally recommended. Positive/hot/+ is usually red. Use a different color for ground (negative). Always use stranded wire in auto/moto applications. Pictures show stranded (left) and solid (right) wire.

:[[image:stranded wire.JPG]]

:[[Image:solid wire.JPG]]

*Crimp connectors

:[[image:crimp connectors.jpg|150px]]

*[http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Installing_connectors_for_your_wiring#Using_heat_shrink_tubing_to_cover_exposed_wire Heat shrink tubing] (optional, but a good idea for covering splices)

:[[image:heat shrink tubing.jpg|150px]]

:[[image:heat shrink.jpg|150px]]

:Or the kind of [http://www.whiteproducts.net/splices.shtml connectors] that already have heat shrink on them.

:[[image:heat shrink crimp.jpg|150px]]

====Directions====

First, wire up the relay. Do this before you install it, so you don't have to take stuff apart if it doesn't work. See the schematic below for help.

*The main power comes from the battery, through the new in-line fuse holder, to the #30 pin on the relay. Obviously, the fuse holder wire isn't long enough to reach, so crimp in a longer wire.

* The original Black/White horn wire gets connected to relay post #86.

*The other original horn wire (Brown/White) connects to terminal #85.

*Run a new wire from pin #87 to one terminal on the new horn. This is the new power wire. Most aftermarket horns will say something to the effect that they are "polarity-free", meaning that it doesn't matter which terminal you use for power or ground. Check the instructions for your particular model.

*Run a wire from the other terminal on the new horn to an established ground or back to the negative battery terminal.

[[image:horn relay diagram.gif|250px]]

*You will need female connectors on the ends of the wires that go to the horn, but you've probably figured that out by now.

*You can mount the relay to the bracket above the horn (or anywhere else it will fit) with double-sided foam tape.

====How this works====

~~Here's how~~ to do this. ~~'''Currently unfinished.'''~~

The pair 85-86 are the trigger. When a circuit is made through this pair, via the horn switch, a switch on the pair 30-87 is toggled from open to closed. When this switch is closed, 30-87 are connected; this connects the battery to the new horn, and we get sound.

'''Sound link:''' [http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i307/gulley04/ninja%20250/?action=view&current=Hornupgrade.flv FIAMM Freeway Blaster]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Category:Electrical & Lighting]]
 [[Category:Controls & Cables]]
+__TOC__
 That little "beep, beep" of the OEM horn, ''IF'' heard by anyone, only makes them look around for a clown car. Since you're not in a clown car, and you want people to acknowledge your presence, a better horn is in order.
@@ Line 19: / Line 20: @@
 The low-tone horn is still relatively high-toned. It cuts through noise quite well. The difference is that when people hear a deep horn, they get more of that instinctive "Oh crap, what's going to smoosh me?" feeling. You want them to have the feeling that they're impinging on your space. It seems to produce a more pronounced effect than the high-tone horn. When you hear that low-tone horn, you look around for the big Cadillac that's about to turn your car into junkyard art.
-It's a direct replacement. No relay is necessary (but see below). It includes a bracket for mounting. You can either remove the nut holding the horn to the bracket and retain the stock bracket, or remove the one bolt holding the bracket to the bike and use the new bracket instead. Just try and see; the brackets are very similar. Installation time is estimated at "120 seconds".
+It's a direct replacement. No relay is necessary, but it is recommended (see below). It includes a bracket for mounting. You can either remove the nut holding the horn to the bracket and retain the stock bracket, or remove the one bolt holding the bracket to the bike and use the new bracket instead. Just try and see; the brackets are very similar. Installation time is estimated at "120 seconds".
 ====Notes on the horn====
@@ Line 28: / Line 29: @@
 *In the event of a fault in the wiring, the horn is most likely to fail ON, not OFF. This is most likely a safety feature.
 The top picture shows the stock horn on a naked bike. The bottom picture shows the new horn installed on a bike with a fairing.
@@ Line 61: / Line 58: @@
 [[Image:IMG_1895.jpg|150px]] [[Image:IMG_1899.jpg|100px]]
-====Using a relay====
-To provide the most power, and thus get the most noise, you can wire a relay to power your horn. This isn't necessary; some people do, some don't. The OEM harness runs the horn power through a mile of wiring and a dozen different connections until it gets to the horn switch. There are lots of places for voltage drop. So, with [[How do relays work?|a relay]], you use the OEM wiring to power the relay, and put in new wiring for the horn. The relay uses a small amount of power (the original switch circuit) to turn on and off a bigger amount of power (the new heavier wire) to the horn. This is true for bigger headlights or any other higher-current-draw accessories you want to add to your motorcycle.
+==Using a relay to power your horn==
+To provide the most power, and thus get the most noise, you can wire a relay to power your horn. This isn't necessary; some people do, some don't. The OEM harness runs the horn power through a mile of wiring and a dozen different connections until it gets to the horn switch. There are lots of places for voltage drop. So, with [[How do relays work?|a relay]], you use the OEM wiring to power the relay and put in new wiring for the horn. The relay uses a small amount of power (the original switch circuit) to turn on and off a bigger amount of power (the new heavier wire) to the horn. This is true for bigger headlights or any other higher-current-draw accessories you want to add to your motorcycle.
+====Stuff you'll need====
+All the components for this project are available at Wal-Mart/Radio Shack/Autozone-ish stores.
+*A 30 amp, four-pin relay. Numbers on the relay pins should be 30, 85, 86, and 87.
+:[[image:relay posts.jpg|150px]]
+*An inline fuse holder and 10 amp fuse.
+:[[image:fuse holder-2.jpg|150px]]
+*Several feet of flexible ''stranded'' copper wire. 14 gauge is generally recommended. Positive/hot/+ is usually red. Use a different color for ground (negative). Always use stranded wire in auto/moto applications. Pictures show stranded (left) and solid (right) wire.
+:[[image:stranded wire.JPG]]
+:[[Image:solid wire.JPG]]
+*Crimp connectors
+:[[image:crimp connectors.jpg|150px]]
+*[http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Installing_connectors_for_your_wiring#Using_heat_shrink_tubing_to_cover_exposed_wire Heat shrink tubing] (optional, but a good idea for covering splices)
+:[[image:heat shrink tubing.jpg|150px]]
+:[[image:heat shrink.jpg|150px]]
+:Or the kind of [http://www.whiteproducts.net/splices.shtml connectors] that already have heat shrink on them.
+:[[image:heat shrink crimp.jpg|150px]]
+====Directions====
+First, wire up the relay. Do this before you install it, so you don't have to take stuff apart if it doesn't work. See the schematic below for help.
+*The main power comes from the battery, through the new in-line fuse holder, to the #30 pin on the relay. Obviously, the fuse holder wire isn't long enough to reach, so crimp in a longer wire.
+* The original Black/White horn wire gets connected to relay post #86.
+*The other original horn wire (Brown/White) connects to terminal #85.
+*Run a new wire from pin #87 to one terminal on the new horn. This is the new power wire. Most aftermarket horns will say something to the effect that they are "polarity-free", meaning that it doesn't matter which terminal you use for power or ground. Check the instructions for your particular model.
+*Run a wire from the other terminal on the new horn to an established ground or back to the negative battery terminal.
+[[image:horn relay diagram.gif|250px]]
+*You will need female connectors on the ends of the wires that go to the horn, but you've probably figured that out by now.
+*You can mount the relay to the bracket above the horn (or anywhere else it will fit) with double-sided foam tape.
+====How this works====
-Here's how to do this. '''Currently unfinished.'''
+The pair 85-86 are the trigger. When a circuit is made through this pair, via the horn switch, a switch on the pair 30-87 is toggled from open to closed. When this switch is closed, 30-87 are connected; this connects the battery to the new horn, and we get sound.
 '''Sound link:''' [http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i307/gulley04/ninja%20250/?action=view&current=Hornupgrade.flv           FIAMM Freeway Blaster]