FJRandy's version of Freeway Blaster install

I just finished a Freeway Blaster install on an '06 AE.

I FINALLY got to document the whole job, start to finsh, including mounting the horns properly. I hope these pics answer a lot of questions.

pic 1.....The left side inner fairing, cut to fit the horn in snug. (arrow on tape just means fwd) Also in the pic, notice the bracket cut with the hole at the proper length, compared to the stock FB horn bracket.



pic 2.....Right side inner fairing. (arrow again pointing fwd) Look at the modified FB bracket with two holes. Lower is the fact bolt hole and the off-center upper one is the locating pin hole on the factory mounting bracket. This allows the horn to move outward.



pic 3....shows where my harness relay will reside, along with the fuse holder just above the right side headlight. All lines that are mine were wrapped with yellow electrical tape for reference location only.

Look for the one of the lines with yellow tape starting to run to the left side.



pic 4....shows the proper layout of my horn harness as it runs along the battery and to the horns. I also shows the left horn wire a little clearer.



pic 5.....shows the left side harness after I pulled it through the fairing, using a wire coat hanger. Pic shows hanger still taped to end of harness. I found this to be faster than having to remove the panel on the left that holds the headlight adjuster. If you take the time to remove that panel, you can snake the wire through by hand. I got lazy. Sue me.



Next three pics show left horn, right horn, and both horns in finished installation.







I hope this helps those who are deciding to takle this job on their own.

All harness sales from here on will have all these reference pics come in a separate email, and will not be included as a printed picture with the the harness.

From what I saw, the Magnum Blaster will NOT fit the left side as close because of the screw hole being right there in front of the horn. I had to trim right up to it just to get the FB's to fit both sides. The Magnums are thicker, and require approx another 3/4" of clearance. I showed the customer both horns and he heard output on both. Agreed, they both sound as loud. MB's not louder than the FB's.

Also, not so clear in the pics, both brackets were bent to turn the horns slightly in towards the radiator. This gives even more clearance for the forks.

Another satisfied customer! ....NEXT!?

Nice! Maybe one of the admins will add the "'06" part to the title. I was wondering what the big deal was about fitting them in there (on a Gen I FJR), unless you're running a SuperBrace.

FJRandy, Great job on the horn install pics, and the finished job looks really clean and professional, with plenty of clearance available should a fork brace be installed at a later date. Thanks again for both the pics and the explainations, as this is one mod I am seriously considering.........NSFJR

FJRandy,

Thanks for taking the time to post this thread with the detailed photos and explanations. :clapping:

Looking forward to getting your harness and tackling this job!

Randy,

In the last part of your post, you mention that the MBs are as loud (the same) as the stock horns. Am I underrstanding you right? I thought the magnum blaster were much louder? What am I missing here?

Randy,

I read in your other post the answer to the above question. The outsput is the same, just the tone is different. Thanks.

Barabus said:

Randy,
I read in your other post the answer to the above question. The outsput is the same, just the tone is different. Thanks.

Click to expand...

That is correct, sir. I can verify over the phone if anyone likes. I can hook up MB's, FB's, and the Nautilus for anyone to hear.

After all the emails I've been getting referring to the horn part of the install, I figured I'd put this out there once and for all.

There's no way I could print all those pics big enough......I'd REALLY be losing money. So here's the pics everyone was waiting to see how it's done correctly. Downlaod 'em and save 'em!

This install gives just about enough room to run a fork brace. I can't imagine anyone installing Magnum Blasters WITH a fork brace, and not trimming the black plastic. My advice to those that already have.....don't turn the bars and hit the front brakes. EVER! :lol:

toecutter said:

Nice! Maybe one of the admins will add the "'06" part to the title. I was wondering what the big deal was about fitting them in there (on a Gen I FJR), unless you're running a SuperBrace.

Click to expand...

You still need to cut the black inner fairing on pre-'06 models. You just don't have that nice little indent on both sides to follow the cut line. These pics could technically be used for pre-'06 too. Only difference would be the actual cutting process. You wouldn't have those nice indents to follow for a cutting line.

I also found that the compact Nautilus will fit pre-'06's much easier than the '06 model. The problem is mounting the compressor on the right side. Much less room on the newer model.

I did like whoever that was who mounted the whole thing inside the left fairing, although I wouldn't personally recommend doing it that way. I still like the "split apart" install myself.

FJRandy said:

pic 4....shows the proper layout of my horn harness as it runs along the battery and to the horns. I also shows the left horn wire a little clearer.

Click to expand...

Geeze! That battery is nice and exposed for easy access! A big improvement over the half-hidden placement of the previous version.

Bounce said:

Geeze! That battery is nice and exposed for easy access! A big improvement over the half-hidden placement of the previous version.

Click to expand...

Bounce, you have no idea! What a difference to only remove two screws and one little plastic pop rivet thingie. Panel comes right off with no twisting or scratching the plastics.

Yeah.....NOW they do it! <_<

FJRandy said:

I can't imagine anyone installing Magnum Blasters WITH a fork brace, and not trimming the black plastic. My advice to those that already have.....don't turn the bars and hit the front brakes. EVER! :lol:

Click to expand...

I have.

Initially I did have problems with them contacting the brace on my 06.

Then I removed the silver covers (takes up al lot of space)on the rear of the horns and re-shaped the mounting strips so the horns sit a back deeper in the recess and there are no issues with contact anymore.

Diesel said:

FJRandy said:

I can't imagine anyone installing Magnum Blasters WITH a fork brace, and not trimming the black plastic. My advice to those that already have.....don't turn the bars and hit the front brakes. EVER! :lol:

Click to expand...

I have.

Initially I did have problems with them contacting the brace on my 06.

Then I removed the silver covers (takes up al lot of space)on the rear of the horns and re-shaped the mounting strips so the horns sit a back deeper in the recess and there are no issues with contact anymore.

Click to expand...

Ya know? You've got me thinking. I have both brands right here. I think I'll take those covers off and take some accurate measurements so people could use that info too.

Thanks for the heads up. It never struck me to just remove the back cover.

I installed the blasters using FJRandy's harness. Great and easy install. But I did mine without trimming any plastic anywhere. I bent the brackets so the horns stay away from the forks and do not contact the radiator or the fairing.

5000 miles on the install and even a few stints on unpaved roads. No problems at all.

[SIZE=10pt]first is a BIG thank you to randy for his excellent product and the outstanding pictures and instructions. i am NOBODY'S wrench, and DOUBLY stupid about things electrical, but i still managed to get his relay in and routed and got the blasters installed. they sound great. my horns ended up "aimed" the opposite direction from randy's pictures. but i dremel-cut the inner panels to his pattern and they fit like custom. very impressive. looks clean and tidy up there... BTW, i ran the harness on the outboard rather than the inboard side of the battery. worked fine and gave lots of room to tuck the relay up behind the right-side fairing frame member.[/SIZE]

now, as to folks who said they did this install in 15 or 20 minutes? you are either the worst liars in the world, or the most amazing mechanics on the planet. you couldn't possibly have been referring to an 06, could you? i seem to have lost my entire saturday morning to the project. i only had a few problems:

1) it wasn't until i was almost done with the whole project that i figured out those lame "quick fasteners". they work a WHOLE lot better when you "get it", than when you just try to yank them out.

2) if the funeral of the mutt at yamaha who stripped the nylon threads on my left side headlight adjuster shaft occurs while i am living, i promise to drink 3 or 4 beers so i can make an appropriate graveside comment on his passing.

3) i tried and tried to fish the left side horn wire, but finally gave up and pulled the panel on the left side. those little panels are nasty buggers, but with both sides out the fish job is easy. there was PLENTY of wire on the left side, and the right side was fine, if snug.

OK - everybody has an opinion, and none of them matter much. but i had the magnums on my old nakey gold wing, and have the freeway blasters on the feej. i think the only difference to my ears is that the magnums had a lower tone, more like an old cadillac. the freeway blasters are a bit more shrill. but i think either would do the job just fine. i miss the rivco airhorns i had on my valkyrie, but i'm off chrome now...

y'all take care. randy's harness is a GREAT product, especially for a driveway dimwit like me...

peace,

shu

FJRandy said:

I just finished a Freeway Blaster install on an '06 AE. I FINALLY got to document the whole job, start to finsh, including mounting the horns properly. I hope these pics answer a lot of questions.

Another satisfied customer! ....NEXT!?

Click to expand...

I just finished my horn install using Randy's harness. A piece of cake. I didnt have to cut any plastic to fit my horns into the factory horn spots. No clearance issues apparently. I didn't have to remove the left side top panels, but did use a wire to fish the harness over the top of the center fairing brace. It went together nice and tidy with a tie wrap on each side to hold the bit of excess harness out of the way.

Nice loud horn setup, and the wiring harness was a real time saver, thank you Randy.

-Sirby

jimbemotumbo said:

I installed the blasters using FJRandy's harness. Great and easy install. But I did mine without trimming any plastic anywhere. I bent the brackets so the horns stay away from the forks and do not contact the radiator or the fairing.
5000 miles on the install and even a few stints on unpaved roads. No problems at all.

Click to expand...

Just did mine tonight using Randy's harness. Saved hours by using it.

I got my Freeway blasters to fit as well. No trimming and they clear the radiator and forks (well, full left lock barely touches).

Damn they are loud!

OK so I bought the Magnum Blasters, but my dealer said that they won't fit..he was ready with a relay set up and all...

So....will they fit an '07?

Can a complete novice do this with Randy's harness?

Randy if you are out there, what say you?

Thanks!!

dragonchef said:

OK so I bought the Magnum Blasters, but my dealer said that they won't fit..he was ready with a relay set up and all...
So....will they fit an '07?

Can a complete novice do this with Randy's harness?

Randy if you are out there, what say you?

Thanks!!

Click to expand...

i skipped what i thought was the hardest part: feeding the wiring harness across from the right side (battery side) to the left side by removing a bunch of plastci and using a coat hanger. i just fed it around in front of the forks and stuffed it down. other than that, just bending the mounting brackets to get a good fit for the horns, i have the fiamms. you _may_ need to cut a little bit out of the left side, i did, but still don't know if it's making a difference or not.

you will need to check clearances, no only stop to stop, but put on c/stand and compress the forks as much as you can to make sure.

Sirby said:

FJRandy said:

I just finished a Freeway Blaster install on an '06 AE. I FINALLY got to document the whole job, start to finsh, including mounting the horns properly. I hope these pics answer a lot of questions.

Another satisfied customer! ....NEXT!?

Click to expand...

I just finished my horn install using Randy's harness. A piece of cake. I didnt have to cut any plastic to fit my horns into the factory horn spots. No clearance issues apparently. I didn't have to remove the left side top panels, but did use a wire to fish the harness over the top of the center fairing brace. It went together nice and tidy with a tie wrap on each side to hold the bit of excess harness out of the way.

Nice loud horn setup, and the wiring harness was a real time saver, thank you Randy.

-Sirby

Click to expand...

Here is a link to some photos of the installation.