[Voltage]

Living in the most densely populated state (NJ) in the country I want to change the stock horn. I am considering the Stebel Nautilus air horn. It's a 139 decibels. This thing is F--in LOUD. When that person on the phone or texting drifts into my lane or is at the intersection with that blank look on their face, you know the one that looks right through you. I want to hit the switch and make them think that they are about to be swallowed by a tractor trailer. I went back to my dealer I was told that did not carry it but if I bought it on line they would install it. The problem is the dealer told that I would be taking a big risk of screwing up the electrical system of the bike. The horn runs directly off the battery. The horn button only controls a relay which allows power to flow from the battery. Have any of you long time riders, tinkerers and complete rebuild specialist ever had any issues where an after market thing like a horn caused other problems on your bike?

 

[MY LIFE]

I've had my Wolo Bad Boy over a year now with no issues. See post below.

http://www.yamahastarstryker.com/index.php/topic,944.msg13360.html#msg13360

 

[klarowe]

By running the horn off a relay you are almost helping the electrical system. The coil of a relay draws very little power to activate. Therefore you are actually drawing less power with a relay than you are with the factory horn. Your main draw is coming directly off the battery so you arent putting any extra 'stress' on the switch or any other part of the circuit.

 

[kraaazymike]

By running the horn off a relay you are almost helping the electrical system. The coil of a relay draws very little power to activate. Therefore you are actually drawing less power with a relay than you are with the factory horn. Your main draw is coming directly off the battery so you arent putting any extra 'stress' on the switch or any other part of the circuit.

Exactly! +1. As long as you use the relay it's 100% safe for the bike. I had one for three years on my last bike that worked great until the day I sold the bike.

 

[klarowe]

And to be quite frank about it, if your dealer is telling you that it will be putting more stress on the circuit, then you might want to find a different place to install it... they obviously don't know enough about relays... lol. you aren't in the Upstate NY region by chance are you???

 

[Voltage]

Thanks everyone. I do have an electrical background and it did not make any sense to me. The dealer also told me that other mods such as replacing stock blinkers and tail lights with LEDs was bad for the bike. Again I don't see how because LEDs draw less current then the stock stuff.

 

[kraaazymike]

Thanks everyone. I do have an electrical background and it did not make any sense to me. The dealer also told me that other mods such as replacing stock blinkers and tail lights with LEDs was bad for the bike. Again I don't see how because LEDs draw less current then the stock stuff.

Sounds like your dealer is trying to dissuade you from voiding the electrical warranty. Or he finds them ugly and tells you this so you won't get them. Either way, LED's wont harm the bike when fused properly.

 

[stroguy]

Well just to help clarify a bit on this subject. Running the horn from a relay is not going to be easier on the electrical system. The "horn" you choose will demand a set amount of power to operate. It does not care how or where it gets this power, but it will demand it whether on a relay, direct wired or through a switch. The purpose and greatness of a relay is that it does consume a small amount of power to operate but the contacts of a relay are much beefier than the contacts of a switch. Typical auto relays can handle 30-40 amps as where a switch typically is rated at 3-10 amps. The relay is also nearly instantaneous at making contact vs a switch which takes much longer to make contact. This slow contact causes arcing, very small and unnoticeable arcing to the human eye, but it is there. This degrades the switch contacts over time. The beefy relay contacts are built to withstand this arcing much longer and with much greater ease.

So a little clarification with hypothetical numbers.

Horn requires 2 amps to operate. It will draw 2 amps, not matter what the route.

Horn with a switch, total draw is 2 amps

Horn with a relay and a switch to activate the switch is 2 amps for the horn and say 50 milli-amps for the relay coil. Total draw on the electrical system with a relay is 2.05 amps.

My suggestion is to always use a relay unless you are using some circuit that is just very small on the current draw. Like LEDs. They consume very little power and a switch is typically AOK.

Here is a circuit that I quickly drew for my car club to help understand the relay in the circuit.

Hope this helps.

Randy

 

[klarowe]

That is correct, but MOST aftermarket horns draw more power than the factory. However the wiring from the factory is only designed to carry the load of the stock horn (in most cases). When you try running the aftermarket horn off the factory wiring or through the factory switch you are putting a heavier load on the components. The relay provides the heavy draw and only requires very little draw to activate the relay.

 

[stroguy]

That would make better sense, but I would be curious as to the current draw the new horn takes. I don't see any wiring on the bike less than around an 18ga. which is sufficient for a mid teen current draw. I am gong to look at the horn wiring better a bit later. But as klarowe was saying the OEM horn wiring will be more than sufficient to handle the 'new horn' relay. You would run a gauge wire to be sufficient for the new horn power.

OP, you have a link to the new horn with maybe some technical stats?

 

[Guest]

You can get the wolo horn pdf here: http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/horns/bad-boy-air-horn-94117.html

It calls for 16 gauge wire and a 20 amp fuse (not included). It has a wiring diagram that shows how to use the existing horn switch.

 

[stroguy]

Great find stryker. Those may be the best instructions and terms for a rookie I have ever seen on an aftermarket product. Kudos to that manufacturer and their technical writing department. Everybody should print a copy and apply them to any electrical project they are planning. Fig C is what you want.

 

[Guest]

Agreed. It can't be made any simpler. Unless they supplied the connectors, fuse, fuse holder and wiring, that is.

 

[fujums]

This link is for a horn set up that I've been kicking around for a while. Since we have some guys on this thread with some technical knowledge in this area, I wonder if you could take at this product and give us your thoughts. It is basically the addition of an air horn with a module that allows for the retention of the factory horn for those times when you don't want to turn every head within earshot. Oh, it also flashes the headlight. Thanks.


http://screaming-banshee.com/

 

[Guest]

The simplest way to do that would be to leave the factory horn alone and just mount another horn switch on the handle bars.

 

[afcop97]

For reference's sake, does anyone know how many decibles the stock horn is?

 

[Voltage]

For reference's sake, does anyone know how many decibles the stock horn is?

I believe most stock electric horns are around 110db

 

[red head sue]

I've had my Wolo Bad Boy over a year now with no issues. See post below.

http://www.yamahastarstryker.com/index.php/topic,944.msg13360.html#msg13360

Plus 1 on the Wolo. I bought a wiring kit for another $10 that puts a fuse in play. Love my Wolo. I've chased off numerous bad drivers and a skittish doe that kept trying to dart in to my lane of traffic.