Horns. Need a Better Horn!

[JT Pedersen]

Howdy,

Yes, it is time. The horns, or meepers, on my ride need to visit the trash can. And, the sooner, the better. Pathetic, sad little things that they are.

Wanted to reach out to you and ask what the current thinking might be. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of new thinking here, so i thought I'd ask, what are -you- using?

Basic areas of interest:

* Effectiveness

* db rating

* Mounting/Installation effort

* Availability

What say you?

 

[wheatonFJR]

The stock horns are wimpy. The popular farkle is to upgrade to Magnum Blasters. Sometimes they're hard to find and may also be marketed as "Freeway Blasters" Part #72112 and # 72102 for the low and high version. They are supposedly made by FIAMM and likely are regulated by U.S. and the E.U. I got mine at a Schucks and are reported to be carried at Napa as "FIAMM Blasters".

 

[HotRodZilla]

I guess it depends on how loud you want to go. I used the PIAA Sports horn and am very happy with it. My FJR sounds like a '70s Buick.

Installation was a breeze. Remove old horns, install news ones.

 

[Patriot]

the ultimate is a stebel compact air horn...it can be mounted in the space underneath where the stock horns with a bit of difficulty as others have done.

you don't have to mount it like I did, but it sure is quick, easy, and loudest

 

[Bokerfork]

I prefer to stay out of situations in which a horn might be needed.

I have found that on the rare occasions when something louder than OEM would have been nice, I was very busy

braking/steering/accelerating and/or all of the above.

If you have time to honk, you have time to get out of harms way.

But, to each their own. My two cents worth.

Mark

 

[kman09]

Hi,I have a set of this on my 09.

Hella TE16 Dual Horn from California Sport Touring Inc,.

Mounted in the same place as the oem horns,price is very good.

They sound great,remind me of my fathers old caddy.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Runnin the same as Wheaton here.. The install wasn't a direct fit but instead of carving up my tupperware like they suggest @ FJRTech I simply removed a bit of the bell.

Genll's might have more clearance.

Oh, and added new wiring and relay because that's what all the cool kids were doing..

 

[Fred W]

The nice thing about the PIAA horns is that none of them draw any more current than the stock beeper, but somehow convert that amount of electricicles into more loudness. They are plastic though. And pro'lly made in china. :glare: (note intentional lower case)

So I only bought one.

 

[Warpdrv]

The Piaa's were an awesome upgrade for me.... took 5-10 mins to install, as your taking time to be sippin a booze that is....

Sound is 1000 x better.... and the price is right...

 

[jtr1174]

+1 on the PIAA horns, I installed the 500/600 variant on my FJR and they are loud. As mentioned earlier, they mount in place of OEM, and do not pop fuses.

 

[majicmaker]

I installed Hella Super Tones. Very loud and a Plug and Play Install. No Relay needed.

 

[DennisJ]

Hella SuperTone Horns. I used a Horn Relay harness from Eastern Beaver, others opt not to. Horns fit the '09 with no trimming. I did rotate the mounting tab on the right hand horn 180 degrees to maintain the original wire routing. Very effective, sanitary installation.

 

[wfooshee]

I got a cheap set of round horns from Auto Zone, used a relay because I had no clue about the current draw. Sounds like a car horn, MUCH louder than previous, and much less "Japanese" sounding.

I think it was all of 20 bucks.

 

[Old Michael]

Stock. Never use the horn.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Just for a comparison, I bought a pair of "Freeway Blasters" (unknown if they're really the same as the Magnum Blasters, or if Auto Zone or wherever I bought them was just selling a knockoff with a similar name. In either case, I bought the pair, around $30, high and low tone, and replaced the wimpy stockers. MUCH better. They're just regular car horns, after all. I'd rather the guy thought he was about to get hit by a Cadillac than a motorcycle. Can't really agree with Bokerfork. When I see somebody pretty clearly fixing to move into my lane, I'm ready with the evasive maneuvers, or I've already started them, but I STILL want to wake his stupid ass up! :angry2: The loud horns combined with the full-intensity Clearwater Kristas that come up with the same button push will have that effect.

Back to the comparison, one of my homeys here in Sac added ONE of the PIAA Sports Horns and left one of the stockers. We compared loudness, and his was significantly louder than my two "car horns." I was impressed. The PIAAs fit in the available space just fine, too, with no trimming. That's my recommendation, after hearing his vs. mine--whether you do just one horn or both.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Stock. Never use the horn.

Don't need to...That girlish scream of yours is hell on the ears from 50 meters.

 

[TomInPA]

I use an airhorn mounted somewhat more discretely than Patriot's. SacramentoMike, OldMichael and Borkerfork asked me to test it for them on the ride last weekend. They said they could hear it. :lol:

It is flush against the bike in front of the right saddlebag, and it doesn't interfere with the passenger peg I never use. Don't see it? Good!

 

[Old Michael]

Nice pic, Tom.

I mean, ...it WOULD be... if that big-assed horn wasn't in it.

 

[Old Michael]

The stock horns are wimpy. The popular farkle is to upgrade to Magnum Blasters. Sometimes they're hard to find and may also be marketed as "Freeway Blasters" Part #72112 and # 72102 for the low and high version. They are supposedly made by FIAMM and likely are regulated by U.S. and the E.U. I got mine at a Schucks and are reported to be carried at Napa as "FIAMM Blasters".

"Geezers, Wheatie," she exclaimed, "That's the longest link I've ever clicked!"