Simple Air Horn Mount Tutorial

[Tollster]

I want to share a simple air horn install. There are many variances to mounting, such as location and remote mounting of the air supply unit.
This is intended to be the most basic, with the exception of the power supply. Here I tied into my on board aftermarket fuse block, (Switched Power) rather than hard wiring to the battery. Its there, why not use it.

Consumables for this job:
• 16 Gage Wire
• Electrical tape
• Plastic wire loom
• 90 degree female spades
• 0 Degree female spades
• 1 M10 X 1.25 pitch bolt
• 1 sawtooth washer
• 1 piece of 6061 Aluminum barstock Approx. 1.00” X 4.00”


First off, locate the plugged hole on the left side of the machine towards the rear of the front jug ( yes the rubber plug is it, simply pull it out). This is your mounting hole, the bolt you will need is 1 M10 X 1.25 pitch X 1”-1.25” long. You will also use the sawtooth washer here( This will bite into the bar and bolt decreasing the likehood it will loosen and have the bar act like a lever). Start by laying out the barstockand horn in the area mentioned. Visualize where you wish to have the horn, and look for interferances, note those for bending the bar. You will have to do some trimming of the barstock, mine almost touches the radiator shroud.. My machine has SW Motech crash bars, so I had to bend my barstock, with two 45 degree angles. This insures it clears the upper portion of the cylinder head, and still maintains about .50" clearance for the crash bars. Once I drilled the holes in the barstock for the cylinder and horn mounts, I rounded the expose surface for a finished look. Do not bolt it on at this time.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/jammerjay/SideViewClose.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/jammerjay/Sawtoothwasher.jpg

Now remove the old horn and disconnect the plug. It can be tough to get at if you have big hands, place a piece of cardboard over the back of the radiator to prevent inadvertent damage of the cooling fins. By the way, it’s the only 11MM nut on the bike. Now refer to the electrical instructions included with your horn, and layout your supply and ground wires. Remember, Suzuki grounds to the battery not the frame. If you have an aftermarket fuse block, use the negative bus bar, same for the supply side.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/jammerjay/AP-1.jpg
Ensure you have adequate fuses in place to support the load. Also do not use less than the recommended gage wire, although it will only draw for a short time, observe the details for trouble free use. I like to tape up the ends of my bundled wires for clean and effortless routing, be sure to keep away from the exhaust and any linkages. I ran mine under the coolant tank, and then along the left frame along the main harness up to where the original horn wires go, under the radiator shroud, the ground followed this route for a short time before dropping down along the front jug where I just let it hang for now. Once again, it’s easier if the end is taped together.
TIP: Use high quality electrical tape, once you have the wires taped together full length, run a lighter over the whole loom quickly, this helps seat the adhesive.
Once you have this completed, mount your relay to the old horn bracket. I used the large fender washer from the old horn and a 10mm bolt; keep the rubber grommet in place for vibration purposes.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/jammerjay/relay.jpg

Make your connection to the relay as described in your instruction kit, using the female spades. Now using the side cutters, cut the horn plug in half, this will give you the two female connections as well.
At this point you should have 3 female wires inside the shroud, (the 2 original horn leads, and the hot load lead) and one down along the left side of the front jug ( Negitive lead). Install the relay and make the appropriate connections. Make up your hot supply jumper and route this back along your original power supply line, then drop down with the negative lead you also ran earlier along the front jug.

Now install your horn and bracket. You may have to adjust the angle so the unit hangs vertical. Use the M10 bolt and sawtooth lock nut, and a dab of blue locktight. Now cut off your leads to the required length and leave a little slack (Always leave some slack as you may have to move something during maintenance) and use the 90 degree female spades.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/jammerjay/BottomView.jpg

Before powering up, review and verify your connections and fuse amperage, look for areas that may chaff the leads, use the slack I spoke of to correct any tighness issues, or extra cable loom where a potential chaffing condition may exist, once you happy go back and zip tie it to the main harness and secure the rest of the leads, now test it out. If you hear a weak horn, reverse the leads on the bottom of the airhorn. ( Here you can see I was one 90 degree spade short) Use the plastic wire loom to cover the exposed leads for a tidy look and now enjoy terrorizing inattentive drivers!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/jammerjay/SWMotech.jpg

I am not an expert on this, and have enjoyed wrenching rides for close to 40 years now. Just thought I would point out an easy mount for some of you that may be new, or those seeking information on the how's and wheres, pictures are worth a thousand words, I choose not to show any wiring details as they could vary, depending on your application, AKA.fuseblock..., but if you do find any of this usefull, and your short on words, would you please rate the thread so I know you did find some use for it, Hell, I should be out riding!
Thanks,
Toll
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/jammerjay/FinishedProduct.jpg

[hoffy]

Good write up and good pics. A horn is in my future, too many geezers pulling out in front of me. I was going to install my fuse box today but it rained , I thought I had it all figured out, now I am thinking of your location under the tank support. That would save the nice area under the seat. BTW, I have seen your horn with different brand names but they are all made in Italy and seem the same.

[Tollster]

I see you have the K7 650, not sure the fuse box would fit there on that year. I have read where they have some type of emissions or somthing that would interfere with the area you need to mount the plate for the box.
It wouldn't hurt to check it out though. Here is the full link with all hyperlinks on the hardware I used. Let us know how you make out.
http://11109.rapidforum.com/topic=110272616860
Glad you liked the horn set up, I often wonder if I am just wasting my time as I recieve little feedback for as many hits as the write ups get.
Thanks,
Toll

[hoffy]

Not too long after I looked at your tutorial, I checked out under my seat and there is almost no room directly under the rear tank support. Also, the coolant overflow jug is directly in front of the tank support and it looks like a tank lift would be needed to top it off. I installed an Electrical Connections fuse plate and ground plate to the front of the under seat tray, just behind the battery. I'll try to post pictures later, couldn't find the patch cord for the camera, but I did take pics. There is a spot behind the battery for a couple of relays so that is where I put the relay for the fuse plate. I mounted the plates with permanent 2 sided tape and bolts. I tapped into the tail light wire with a positap to power up the relay, that way I can have the aux panel hot with the key in "park". The Electrical Connections Aux fuse system consists of two parts, a fuse panel for the positive side(six fuses) and a round ground plate. (they were the first I saw, at twisted throttle, then I found the centech and the blue ray) I cut a piece of cat dirt bucket and made a wall just aft of the plates so I still have some room in the tray. I have the stock tool kit, my registration and insurance card, axle cotter pins, tire gauge, small led light in a canvas bag that sits on top/front of tool kit, and I had a small craftsman 1/4" set in a hard case that sat in the front of the tray. That is now in a canvas bag, along with a few other doo-dads. Several hundred miles later and everything is staying put.

[Gramps]

There's a fantastic place under the left rear panel for mounting things. It would be a perfect place for a horn, if it was easier to access. To get the left panel off, you have to remove the rear luggage rack, a screw, and 4 of those plastic rivets.. :(

But there's tons of room under there for things you dont have to get to very often..

http://gramp.smugmug.com/photos/304831961_fwz3N-L.jpg

I think I'll end up putting the relay to my ABS switch under there, but I'm still hunting for a good place to install an Aux fuse panel on a K7 Wee..

[12bar]

I used your instructions to add an air horn to my Wee today, Thanks for providing the support for folks like me that are not especially good with elecricity. I do have one question have you had any trouble with the mounting set up moving?

[kenneth_moore]

Great job on the write-up Tollster! The presentation of the content and photos looks very polished.

[Tollster]

Thank you very much, I just got beck from a 1900 mile trip to mammoth caves NP and the new river gorge area, my aiken arse!
Getting back to the movement issue, this is why you want the saw tooth washer and blue locktite, the saw tooth will bite the aluminum between the bottom of the hex bolt flange and the bracket, combine this with the locktite and you should have no issues. It was the primary reason I wanted to point that washer out, as a regular lock washer or flat washer could pose an issue down the road after vibrations and such, the bracket also works as a cantilever, so its impotant to have the sawtooth there.
Anyway, thanks again for the compliments, they are appriciated very much!
If I can ever help anoyone here, no matter how simple it may seem, please ask or PM me.
Sincerely,
Tollie

[coonass]

Good write up except on a Vee the horn is on the right side of the bike and there is no plugged hole to mount to.. just a note for others with litre bikes..

[barry]

Thank you, thank you. I have a Wolo still in the box waiting for install. Your tutorial will prevent mucho cussing.

[garandman]

Very helpful. I still think the Pat Walsh bracket under-the-cowling mount is the best choice for those of us in rainy climates, but I bet your setup is louder!

[Jimbo94]

I am getting the hardware today to make the install. Thanks much for your tutorial. Hope I get the wiring right...:)

[Hundreddollawrbill]

off topic. but what tires are those? they have an awesome look to them. and give the bike an agressive look. Are they a good all around tire, or will they be slippery in the corners?

[Tollster]

off topic. but what tires are those? they have an awesome look to them. and give the bike an agressive look. Are they a good all around tire, or will they be slippery in the corners?

Metzler Karoo T: I have found them to be more road friendly than the TKC's, but only because of a softer compound, this in turn resulted in a faster tire wear on road. Wear for the front resulted in a 1 to 1 (front to rear wear ratio) ratio rather than the typicaly 2 to 1 you normally get

http://www.complog.co.uk/productimages/Karoo_T_shadow.jpg

[barry]

Why do you need to use the fuse block? Don't you just use the wiring thats already there? In other words, why would wiring directly to the battery be an option since you would use wiring already in place.

[SCraig]

Why do you need to use the fuse block? Don't you just use the wiring thats already there? In other words, why would wiring directly to the battery be an option since you would use wiring already in place.
The wiring and fusing for the factory horn does not have the ampacity to carry the load of an air horn such as the Stebel. They draw on the order of 10 amps. You can use the factory horn circuit to trip the relay to the horn but not to power the horn itself.

[barry]

The wiring and fusing for the factory horn does not have the ampacity to carry the load of an air horn such as the Stebel. They draw on the order of 10 amps. You can use the factory horn circuit to trip the relay to the horn but not to power the horn itself.

Just got a reply from Jim at Eastern Beaver and here is his reply. "Well a fuse panel is great for many accessories, but a high powered horn should
go direct to battery."

Comments?

[greywolf]

I'm surprised. My Stebel works just fine running through my Blue Seas fuse box. All the connections are rated up to 30A so I don't see a problem.

[Tollster]

You can wire it anyway you wish, that is why I did not go into detail on the wiring. Sure I could give pointers, but then we always have people that "do it for a living". I will leave it at that, much the same way I left it in the original write up.
If you don't have a fuse block, go to the battery and follow the instructions included with horn.

[cwadej]

I initially had mine in the same place. I didnt like how it directed the sound to the left. I moved it to in front of the oil cooler. I'll start a new thread with pictures.

[greywolf]

Good luck with longevity. The thing does not do as well without water protection.

[Traveler]

Installed a Stebel in a similar location as shown (Givi case-guards instead) and after a no- response abortive effort, remembered to install the ground wire under the horn, which came in a separate packet. Damn, but it does work!

Now comes the hitch................the grip heaters have stopped working. I discovered this yesterday halfway though a 75km minus 2C (+/- 28F) ride. First time out with the bike since horn install. The bike did stall 3 times on initial starting, but then ran strong.

Checked the fuses today, all look OK and anyway the dealer installed the Oxford grip heaters when the bike was new and I seem to recall that they wired them into the ignition. Checked the two plastic connector plugs infront of the headlights, all OK.

I'm stumped - Any ideas?

[greywolf]

Oxfords have a low voltage shut off. A voltmeter will tell you if the controller is getting no voltage or not enough. I hope you connected the ground wire to the battery or a ground block instead of the frame.

[Traveler]

Thanks for the speedy response..........I used an Eastern Beaver type of hookup and the 'ground' wire goes to the battery, so I presumed that the very short 6" wire under the the horn could go to the attachment clamp which does ermmmm sit on the case-guard frame.
Sorry don't have a voltmeter. I was hoping to avoid a visit to the dealer.

[greywolf]

In that setup. the wire to the battery is the hot wire, not the ground wire which should go to the other battery terminal. Your actual ground wire is going using the frame as a ground path. That can cause corrosion of aluminum in steel to aluminum frame connections. Look at the kits at http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Products/Horn_Kits/horn_kits.html and see they all have two battery connections, black for ground/battery - and red for hot/battery +.

[Traveler]

GreyWolf,

Thanks to your comment re low current, I have it fixed. (Not before changing the braided blue/black wires around on the horn socket - which I had really stuffed up in the headlight zone and not before push/pull checking every other connection, of course).
It turned out that I had failed to really push in the new fuse haaaaaard 'til it clicked.
Presto grips working.

Thanks again.

Terry.
PS This is the first electrical job I've ever done and the fact that anything works afterwards is astonishing to me! ........ ........

[DARK RIDER]

This horn(info from STEBEl Italy) don't like water.So,the best way to pace her is on the right side of fairing.This way ,splashing water wont damage horn.:) See pix.....

[Tollster]

This horn(info from STEBEl Italy) don't like water.So,the best way to pace her is on the right side of fairing.This way ,splashing water wont damage horn.:) See pix.....

My Horn still Horny at the original location @ 6k miles later, no doubt some have had issues and there are many places others perfer to put their horns:)

[Craigster]

Has anyone ever mounted twin air horns on a Wee? I'm thinking 2 horns, 2x the volume. Yes, I'd run them through a Blue Seas box.

Thanks,
C.

[greywolf]

The problem is two horns do not produce twice the volume. That is not how sound volume works with regard to energy. Two horns produce a little more than one.

[Tollster]

I think it would sound louder if the 2 horns had different tones, but grey wolf is correct, one horn times two still equals one horn. I believe the ratio for sound within the human frequency range is +12 DB is twice the sound level.
Meaning a sound at 80 DB is twice as loud as one at 68 DB. If you can find different frequency's for the 2 horns, it will produce more sound than one horn, as for how much I am not sure, but you would be able to tell the difference.