Air Horns

[lragan]

So my package arrived this afternoon, and I installed the horn tonight.  I mounted the relay under a screw that holds the air filter in place, close enough to the front that the stock horn wires reach the relay.  Dug through my junk box and came up with an in-line fuse holder and a 20 amp fuse, which I laid alongside the battery, next to the extra fuse already installed in series with a relay that runs my Wal-Mart high intensity running lights.  (I wish this stuff came with the kit.  Would save a lot of time.)

Egad, I am going to have to install a junction/fuse box near the positive battery terminal if I add any more accessories that require direct connection to the battery!!

I used a spacer and installed the horn in front as Herman showed in the photos.

Net result -- I really like the loud sound.  When I "test fired" the beast this evening, dogs for 1/2 mile around began to bark and howl!!

What I don't like is the way the horn sticks out the front and flops around on the end of the flimsy (stock) mounting bar.  I am going to look for another place to mount it (without much hope of success -- Honda packed all that stuff in the frame pretty tightly).  At a minimum, I intend to fabricate a mounting plate from a piece of flat steel that will be a little stiffer.

I am also going to search out some right angle lug connectors to route the compressor wires a little less conspicuously .


In any case, thanks to all for their recommendations and suggestions.  Now I can be heard as well as (or perhaps even better than) seen.

[Charles S Otwell]

If it's that loud just mount it where the R/R is now and go ahead and move your R/R to it's new location..

[Herman]

I've heard someone else say they were not happy with the stock mounting plate for the horn.  I guess with the stock horn weighing next to nothing it's no big deal.  I personally think the stock horn mounting plate works with the Stebel Nautilus horn.  It has enough flex to absorb some of the shock.  But then again, I'll probably be the first to post a thread on how to get an embedded air horn out of the rear tire!

OR, if I'm riding down the road and it falls off, people will just think I'm riding a harley 

[lragan]

If it's that loud just mount it where the R/R is now and go ahead and move your R/R to it's new location..

I thought of that, Charles.  The horn is substantially thicker (any way you mount it) than the R/R.  First time I went over a cattle guard, the swing arm would smash it flat!!

[Jester]

what's a cattle guard? 

[hootmon]

Let's home he meant the 1st type and not the second...


 

[lragan]

Let's home he meant the 1st type and not the second...

Indeed!!  The second one is known locally as a "brush guard".  I have four of the first type on my place, and have to cross two of them at the beginning and end of every ride.

You will notice, even in the picture you submitted, that the bars are not in the same plane as the road.  It appears that they are higher.  On most of the guards I encounter in riding around here, the bars are lower.  This is because the guards were in place long before the pavement was.  So if one traverses these devices at any but the slowest speeds, there is a substantial shock to the suspension, both front and rear. 

[Herman]

Let's home he meant the 1st type and not the second...


 

A brush guard on a Lexus???????   It looks more like it ran into a huge metal fly!

[lragan]

So this weekend, I painted the cheapo plastic horns that came from Harbor Freight, (so they are now matching blue instead of the original red) and mounted them with their air pump on the bike.  I am not sure I like the look, but man are they loud!!.

And... I noticed in the latest HF flier that the kit is on sale for $12.99!  Complete with everything you need except the fuse holder and fuse.  That's right, relay, pump, trumpets, tubing, mounting hardware, the entire bit for $13.   Item 40134-OCTH

I also noticed another one for slightly more that has three trumpets.  I suspect that the pump is the same, so it would have one more tone, but maybe not any more sound pressure.

I hope to find time tomorrow to record the OEM horn, the Stebel Nautilus, and the HF cheapo kit in an audio file that I can post for your listening pleasure, and take a few photos for you to laugh at as well.

[Magnum Magna]

I have heard if the pump and horn is not close, there is a delay in the blowing of the horn.
Correct me if this is not true.
That is the why i was looking at the Stebel Nautilus.

[lragan]

The hose is about 5 inches from the pump to the "Y" junction. The longest hose is about one foot.  The other is about 5 inches.  If there is a delay it is too short for my senses to notice.  Certainly much shorter than my reaction time to the horn button.  Wish I had this thing mounted when we met for lunch, you could have tried it yourself.

I was worried that the plastic would not take the paint.  Turns out that Krylon makes a paint they call Fusion, which is designed to adhere to plastics.  I applied a coat of this paint first.  Then my matching paint, followed by three coats of clear. 

I suppose it is possible that with prolonged use, the paint will loosen due to motion of the trumpet due to sound pressure, but so far, the two blasts I have sounded have not affected it at all.

It seems much louder than the Stebel, but I haven't tested it from in front of the bike.  That's the reason I want to make comparative recordings before I dismount the Stebel. 

[hootmon]

I painted my cheap Wolo Plastic trumpets with Fusion a couple of years ago. No additional paint, no clear coat.. The paint is still in good shape, except where I dripped some Metal polish.
The one bad thing about the fusion paint is it is very susceptible to damage from chemicals.

[lragan]

Thanks for the warning, Hoot.  I think all the Fusion is well covered by now, so maybe it will be OK.  After a week or so, I will wax these surfaces just like the tanks, side panels, and fenders.

Probably not an issue with modern paints, but I remember from long ago that I was advised to let them cure a week or so before using wax.

Are the horns on the side of your bike, pictured in an earlier post, painted plastic?  If so, you have done a great job with them.  They look black in the photo.  Did they start out red?

[hootmon]

Are the horns on the side of your bike, pictured in an earlier post, painted plastic?  If so, you have done a great job with them.  They look black in the photo.  Did they start out red?

No, worse... They started out Yellow... Inside the horns is still yellow... Not the yellow end caps, then entire horns were that color.. I wasn't hard, just a little masking and spray paint.. The fusion stuff works pretty well, but no matter how clean I try and make it, I always get a few small spots that seem to not want to take the paint.

BTW - I fusioned the Frame plastic panel up by the neck, and the whole tail light section and the chain guard. All of these had turned grey for oxidation... I made a marked improvement in the look of the bike..

[lragan]

OK, this afternoon I ran the test.  Here are the pictures of the setup.  As you can see, I had all three horns mounted on the bike at once.  With help from my grandson, we recorded them at a distance fo 59 feet from the plane of the Stebel and OEM horns, with a cheapo mike and the standard recording app that comes with Windows XP. 

Between each segment, I switched the wires to the next horn.

Will post the sound file in the next post-- don't want to overflow the memory limits...

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