How to: Install an air horn

[likefry]

So being sick of the crappy drivers merging into me and not being able to hear my horn i decided to get myself an airhorn.

I managed to pick up a crappy air horn kit from supercheap for about $30. It consisted of 2 plastic horns for different tones, a relay, an air compressor, some plastic tubing and a Y-peice so you can connect both horns if you want.

To start off remove fairing and find a place you can attach the horn and compressor to. If you can't do this i wouldn't advise you proceed any further.

This is the compressor with tubing already attached and the horn.




The air horn needs power directly from the battery so if you try and power it from the horn circuit already on your bike you'll probably burn out some wiring.

I used 25A wiring and i soldered a fuse on for the main power from the battery to the relay.


Here you can see the fuse i used a 20A fuse. You should place the fuse close to the battery so it blows before wrecking your electrics.



This is the ground wire that goes from the compressor to the frame or earth point



This is the live wire that goes from the relay to the positive side of the compressor.



This is the relay i had to replace as the one that came with the kit was a peice of crap and kept welding on as it couldn't handle the current. I grabbed this out of my mates commodore hes ripping apart for a project.



Another view



When i pulled my old horn off it had connectors already on it which made it convenient to connect to the relay. These are the wires that went to the old horn.

Now that the wiring is completed you can start connecting it up. I used crimp connectors to make connecting the battery easier.


Run the wiring up to where the horn is. i just followed existing wiring.





I forgot to take a photo but just bolt the ground wire (the black one) to any part of the frame as it shouldn't matter.

Connect the wires to the relay. It should tell you which sides to connect to where. For example on my relay the actuation is by number 86 and 85, The positive from the battery is 30 and the positive to the compressor is 87.




Connect the positive wire from the relay to the compressor and the negative wire to the ground.



Lastly find a place to put the compressor, horn and relay and secure it. i used trusty cable ties and have actually been riding around with it on for a few months and so far nothings fallen off.



I suggest turning the bike on and testing the horn before you connect the air line to the horn so you don't deafen yourself.

Now i know its not the neatest install and my bike needs a wash and my garage is dirty yada yada yada but i don't care its my old peice of crap bike and it goes good. The horn is very very loud and i don't suggest trying it in a closed garage.

[resist]

does the compressor run out air after a while?

[BigTim]

Cool little project mate. Personally, I use the throttle and the limiter as a pretty effective "horn". Love the gratuitous use of cable ties though

does the compressor run out air after a while?

It's a compressor Jake, which means it's a little electric pump, that compresses air as it needs to. I think you're thinking of those compressed air cans.

[likefry]

does the compressor run out air after a while?

Yeah Tims right its a compressor so just pumps air at a high enough volume and pressure to run the horn. doesn't have a resevoir if thats what you mean.

[CT90]

Now all you have to do is replace that little horn with one off a truck and hey presto, instant fear.

[CitizenD]

Don't.

It's the mating call of the Cunt.

[resist]

oh man. i thought it was a like a canister like on the ones you buy from supercheap, how do they suck enough air to use in the horn? is there a delay?

i dont know anything about air horns

[Scoundrel]

The Stebel Nautilus ones are pretty loud but quite bulky and can be difficult to fit on bikes.

[Dubs]

I bought THIS one, cheaper off ebay than their site, but the manufacturers site has wav clips, be careful day is LOUD

a little more spensive but i didnt have to any wiring, plug and play it was for me


Nice write up BTW

Dubs

[likefry]

oh man. i thought it was a like a canister like on the ones you buy from supercheap, how do they suck enough air to use in the horn? is there a delay?

i dont know anything about air horns

Naah theres no delay its a pretty powerful little compressor

[Kryzaach]

I bought a stebel nautilus to use on my bike, then decided against, anyone who wants a free air horn, come and get it...

[goof]

I did this to a bike years (OK decades) ago. Loved it, loved the reaction it got. I would do it to all my bikes, but on modern sports bikes it's hard to find room.

[Hostilemonk]

If anyone interested in putting on an air horn try the Sebel Nautilus compact air horn.

E.g. STEBEL NAUTILUS "COMPACT" DUAL AIR HORN BLACK 12V 139dB - eBay, Other Accessories, Motorcycle Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 09-Jul-08 18:25:43 AEST)

and the less compact
CHROME STEBEL NAUTILUS DUAL TONE AIR HORN KIT 12V 139dB - eBay Steering Wheels, Horns, Interior, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 27-Jun-08 06:19:52 AEST)

Both available in Chrome.

130+decibels, no tubes and easy to fit - there are two models - opne is very compact and designed for bikes. A little more $ but really frightens the crap out of the cagers. Even put one on my car.

[=Stevo=]

ahah we have some massive air horns on our boat....

anything designed for a boat/truck is probably way too loud (so just right )

was very impressive at 3am each night on leavers.... we were just doing everyone a favour with the 'everything is ok alarm' a la simpsons

[frazcat]

calls for a demo!

[=Stevo=]

any chance of someone buying a duck-call whistle and attaching it to the horn so it makes a rediculously loud duck noise? cager freak-out time aha

example with BOV:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbNxugO-uf0"]YouTube - blow off valve duck call[/ame]

[Crispin]

Have a look at the video for these horns:

Train Horns & Train Horn Kits By HornBlasters, The Name In Locomotive Horn Kits For Your Car Or Truck!

[TORQ]

And check these guys out ... Awes. eBay Store - train horn: air horn, siege, engineering

I could see Tys or Starfish fitting one of these to their lounge chairs ...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-iyvBqJgSY"]YouTube - Train horn test (www.gigabitcustoms.com)[/ame]

(or Hornet, to announce those FNR's)




[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5L5Gkef2bY"]YouTube - Train Horn Demo[/ame]

[shmoo]

I've got a Stebel Nautilus compact air hor that i installed on my Vstrom. Happy to do a demo when i'm back in town, if anyone is interested in hearing them before they get one.

Basically, yeah its bloody loud

edit - should be pretty easy to install into the front fairing on most bikes.

[Kryzaach]

youtube vids:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5L5Gkef2bY"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=W5L5Gkef2bY[/ame]

This guy is a fool
He's taken 6 horns and strapped them together, theorizing that 128db * 6 = 770 db and 150Hz * 6 = 900Hz
At most, he'd get a 2 db increase.
I'm going to assume he's american.