CORRECTION (30 Sep 2012): I misread the electrical diagram. I confused pink/blue with red/blue. The only thing on the circuit with the horn is the brake and tail light - not the turn signals.
Horn upgrade
- Thread starter dduelin
- Start date
CORRECTION (30 Sep 2012): I misread the electrical diagram. I confused pink/blue with red/blue. The only thing on the circuit with the horn is the brake and tail light - not the turn signals.
- Joined
- May 16, 2012
- Messages
- 5,265
- Reaction score
- 7
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Vancouver BC Canada
Ah Hah! Thanks! I'm insanely curious about stuff like that until I find out lol
SilverPelican
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2012
- Messages
- 103
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Kingston, Washington, USA
Just dropping a line to say my mechanic tried replacing my horn with the PIAA slim line sports horn today and it popped the fuse. 
Will have to figure something else out.
Will have to figure something else out.
Last edited:
Just dropping a line to say my mechanic tried replacing my horn with the PIAA slim line sports horn today and it popped the fuse.
Will have to figure something else out.
Relay time. The NC has the easiest of horn circuits to wire a relay to as the horn button delivers the +12v to the horn. The other terminal at the horn is a ground. So, run those two wires to a relay coil and run fused power through a normally open contact on the relay and down to the horn. You can ground the horn to the frame and you don't even have to take a ground wire unless you just want to be rigorous. The power circuit for the horn can be unswitched if you wish because the coil circuit is switched so the horn can't be blown with the key off.
ETA: Your horn switch will be much happier with this arrangement.
Tigershark
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2012
- Messages
- 36
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Grafton, Wisconsin, USA
Got my Wolo air horn installed and wired up. Sounds great!
I did exactly as the last post suggested by wiring the horn button to the relay coil controlling the normally open contact. The relay came with the horn. I then ran 12 volts from the plus contact on the battery through an inline 10A fuse to the N.O. contact on one side, then from the other side of the N.O. relay contact to the positive horn connection and finally from the negative horn connection directly to the nearest ground (any bolt screwed into the motorcycle frame).
I mounted the relay on the bike in place of where the stock horn was, but my major oops was to mount the new horn in front of the top of the radiator above the front fender. When I held the front brake and pushed the bike forward in a lunging motion, the horn made contact with the front fender. There's a lot of travel on the front forks which does not leave enough space for the horn. I'll be moving the horn under the bodywork as described earlier in this post. This will protect the front fender from getting cracked and will protect the horn from getting soaked while riding in the rain.
I know there are differences in opinions on going to an air horn, but I would highly recommend it. My stock Honda horn couldn't possibly be heard by someone in a car. Not the case at all with the air horn. And, I personally do not believe it's ear shattering. It's simply loud enough to be heard by anybody you may need to hear it. That's pretty important, in my opinion.
I used the Stebel Nautilus on my last bike and it pretty much sounded the same as the Wolo. I can't speak for the Fiamm horn, but read reviews and it fell short of the two air horns I've installed. Stebel has had poor reviews lately due to short life expectancy. That's why I switched to the Wolo. Time will tell.....
I did exactly as the last post suggested by wiring the horn button to the relay coil controlling the normally open contact. The relay came with the horn. I then ran 12 volts from the plus contact on the battery through an inline 10A fuse to the N.O. contact on one side, then from the other side of the N.O. relay contact to the positive horn connection and finally from the negative horn connection directly to the nearest ground (any bolt screwed into the motorcycle frame).
I mounted the relay on the bike in place of where the stock horn was, but my major oops was to mount the new horn in front of the top of the radiator above the front fender. When I held the front brake and pushed the bike forward in a lunging motion, the horn made contact with the front fender. There's a lot of travel on the front forks which does not leave enough space for the horn. I'll be moving the horn under the bodywork as described earlier in this post. This will protect the front fender from getting cracked and will protect the horn from getting soaked while riding in the rain.
I know there are differences in opinions on going to an air horn, but I would highly recommend it. My stock Honda horn couldn't possibly be heard by someone in a car. Not the case at all with the air horn. And, I personally do not believe it's ear shattering. It's simply loud enough to be heard by anybody you may need to hear it. That's pretty important, in my opinion.
I used the Stebel Nautilus on my last bike and it pretty much sounded the same as the Wolo. I can't speak for the Fiamm horn, but read reviews and it fell short of the two air horns I've installed. Stebel has had poor reviews lately due to short life expectancy. That's why I switched to the Wolo. Time will tell.....
lamlamz
New Member
Which LED lights have you purchased? Mind to share the links? Thanks.
duk2n
Site Supporter
SilverPelican
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2012
- Messages
- 103
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Kingston, Washington, USA
Just dropping a line to say my mechanic tried replacing my horn with the PIAA slim line sports horn today and it popped the fuse.
Will have to figure something else out.
I've decided to keep the horn I bought and try this next:
Plug-N-Play wiring kit for Stebel Compact Nautilus Airhorns by Twisted Throttle - TwistedThrottle.com
Replacement 5-pin relay (for Electrical Connection power distribution block or Stebel horn wiring kits) - TwistedThrottle.com
I am disappointed that PIAA says no wiring harness is required and doesn't sell their own wiring harness if you decide to go that route.
The problem with these plug-n-play harnesses is that they are never the right length unless they are custom made for the particular motorcycle. You end up either stowing a bunch of extra wire somewhere on the bike, or cutting off the custom terminals, shortening (or possibly lengthening) the wires and installing new terminals. After that, you had just as well build a custom harness yourself. The Bosch relay and wiring base are available cheaply from any auto parts store. The connections are simplicity itself.
duk2n
Site Supporter
Lee, I assume you're "intercepting" the horn switch wire (+12v?) in the harness of the left handlebar control to use it in your own horn circuit. If I'm correct, please, could you tell me what wire (color) is it and if there is any other wire with the same color in the harness? I'm asking because I would like to follow this route instead of just installing the FIAMM relay where the stock horn is, and then routing power to the FIAMM horns as dduelin did.
The harness for the left handlebar control is a difficult place to access the wires. It is a single 14-pin connector that is frame mounted. The best way from what I could determine was to use the wires to the stock horn as the relay power, since they would otherwise be abandoned anyway. You do not have to locate the relay where the original horn was in order to use its wires to power it. You can use flat blade terminals to connect to the horn wires and extend the wires up to whatever location you wish to place the relay. The relay will usually work without any reference to coil polarity - unless there is a tamping diode in the circuit. If you are using a normal Bosch style relay, the coils are numbered 85 and 86. To be safe from a possible diode issue, connect the positive to terminal 85 and the ground to terminal 86. The fused power should be attached to terminal 30 and the load to the new horn should be attached to terminal 87. The terminal 87a is not used.
Here is a "cartoon style" wiring diagram I found on the 'net. For our horns, refer only to the top diagram and only the circuit for the green light. The switch is your horn button and the green light is your horn or horns.
Last edited:
duk2n
Site Supporter
Many thanks! I like the idea of moving the relay, it's cleaner and the cable(s) from the actual horn to the location of the relay would be thinner than the other way, I don't know what I was thinking.
Yes, you could use any gauge wire from the horn wires to the relay, 18 gauge is plenty. Smaller than that would still be plenty, but it becomes mechanically fragile in very small sizes. The wires from the power source to the relay and the relay to the horn should be 14 gauge. The relay could easily be mounted beside the new horn under the air duct or some other place of your choosing. You could do this with a $2 or so Bosch relay, a few terminals and a few short pieces of wire. The use of a relay base is optional.
duk2n
Site Supporter
The relay that comes with the FIAMM horns is similar (if not equal) to what you're describing, I have it in the garage, but I remember terminals numbered 30, 85, 86 and a duplicated 87. I still have to test it, but I believe the duplicated 87 is to sound the horns in a specific order.
Am I correct saying that I only need to extend the possitive wire of the actual horn? I mean, I can get the ground for any location nearest to the relay
Am I correct saying that I only need to extend the possitive wire of the actual horn? I mean, I can get the ground for any location nearest to the relay
Yes, it is true that you need only extend the positive wire for the coil and can ground both the relay and the second terminal on the horn. But be careful that what you are calling a "duplicated 87" is not in fact terminal 87a which is a normally closed terminal. On a five pin relay, there is only a single pole set of contacts, so it makes no sense for a duplicated output. I guess it is possible that there is a delayed normally open output as you are describing, but I have never seen it in a horn relay.
duk2n
Site Supporter
We will know for sure soon, I already have all the materials for a "test circuit", I wanted to know how this beast sounds before mounting the whole thing in the bike
FlaNC700X
Site Supporter
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2012
- Messages
- 453
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Sunny Ft.Lauderdale, Florida
Keep us informed duk2n. Give us a sound clip.
tew47
New Member
Can you use one relay for both horns or do you have to use a relay for each horn?
One relay is fine. Most of them are 30 amp rated and the horns together pull less than 10 amps (speaking of Fiamms). Just wire the (+) of both horns to terminal 87.
Tigershark
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2012
- Messages
- 36
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Grafton, Wisconsin, USA
Horn Placement and parts
Placing the relay is easy, since it's so small. The horn is the challenge. The obvious place is under the air intake cover, but I haven't been able to figure out how to remove the cover. Any help from you guys would be appreciated.
The other bit of information is the source of the relays, inline fuse holder, etc. I went to Amazon under the automotive category and searched for the NC-700 and also for motorcycle horns. One of those two should find the goods for you. These items were just a few dollars, so it's a very quick and easy place to order from.
Amazon is a good search location, because you may find other bike related stuff while you're looking. I've learned to look there first for almost everything and usually end up successful. And their return policy is second to none in my opinion, especially on more expensive items.
Placing the relay is easy, since it's so small. The horn is the challenge. The obvious place is under the air intake cover, but I haven't been able to figure out how to remove the cover. Any help from you guys would be appreciated.
The other bit of information is the source of the relays, inline fuse holder, etc. I went to Amazon under the automotive category and searched for the NC-700 and also for motorcycle horns. One of those two should find the goods for you. These items were just a few dollars, so it's a very quick and easy place to order from.
Amazon is a good search location, because you may find other bike related stuff while you're looking. I've learned to look there first for almost everything and usually end up successful. And their return policy is second to none in my opinion, especially on more expensive items.
