OldernYZer
Active member
Having just been unexpectedly graced with permission from my wife to go buy the first road bike I've owned since I met her, I found myself facing the uncomfortable fact that I was potentially going to have to spend a significant amount of money on it before she's even had her first real ride on the thing. And that to correct a problem that for me is only important because if it doesn't work, I won't be allowed to take the final test to get the State to agree that I know how to ride a motorcycle.
So, I was determined to fix the horns on my own. Working somewhat blind with nothing but an owner's manual on an unfamiliar machine, the first thing I found out is that there's no dedicated fuse for the horn, and since everything else works, that was not likely to be the problem, but I checked anyway, and they were all good. So the next most accessible item in the system, if not the most likely culprit, is the button. I opened the handlebar switch and found the back of the horn button openly exposed, with a pair of wires soldered to two terminals. Turning the key on and jumping these with a screwdriver blade produced the desired obnoxious squawk from both horns, so the problem had to be the button itself, most likely dirty or corroded contacts. This was a good thing, since I wasn't in the mood to pull the gas tank for an extended search.
But now I had to get the button out of the switch housing in order to get enough access to figure out what to do with it. In spite of the fact that none of the four switches mounted on that side are serviced separately, they are four discrete switches individually bolted into the housing with #1 Phillips screws. The next issue was that the turn signal switch overhangs the horn button, and has to be removed first. The small black knob on this switch has to be removed in order to pull the switch lever through the slot it runs in. It snaps onto the lever, and I freed it by working a small 90 degree machinist scribe between the bottom side of the lever and the knob to lift the plastic latch that holds it there. Then it was a matter of removing th etwo screws that hold the switch and that was out of the way.
Next was the single screw that holds the horn button in place. The horn wires interfere with the removal a little, and it would be possible to cut the zip tie that holds the complete harness to the switch body and replace it once you finish, but I managed to work around that by moving the leads with a plastic pick far enough to get the screw out.
The horn button itself is the second simplest switch I've ever seen. The button is hinged on the base plate, looking rather like a tiny desk stapler. It has a contact on its underside that connects to a coil spring that is soldered to the base plate and one of the wires. The other contact is on the base plate, and pressing the button simply puts the two together. So I worked a flat jeweler's file between the coils of the spring and scuffed up the contact surfaces, and just like that, I had a functional horn button again.
From there it was just a matter of putting the whole thing back together. Simple enough, but watch for two things: First, the horn leads do their best to get pinched by the mounting screw for the button. Keep them out of trouble by moving them out of the way as the screw tightens. Second, once the turn signal switch goes back in, you have to support the TS lever by pushing outward from the inside in order to snap the knob back on. Then close the housing up and it's finished.
So, I was determined to fix the horns on my own. Working somewhat blind with nothing but an owner's manual on an unfamiliar machine, the first thing I found out is that there's no dedicated fuse for the horn, and since everything else works, that was not likely to be the problem, but I checked anyway, and they were all good. So the next most accessible item in the system, if not the most likely culprit, is the button. I opened the handlebar switch and found the back of the horn button openly exposed, with a pair of wires soldered to two terminals. Turning the key on and jumping these with a screwdriver blade produced the desired obnoxious squawk from both horns, so the problem had to be the button itself, most likely dirty or corroded contacts. This was a good thing, since I wasn't in the mood to pull the gas tank for an extended search.
But now I had to get the button out of the switch housing in order to get enough access to figure out what to do with it. In spite of the fact that none of the four switches mounted on that side are serviced separately, they are four discrete switches individually bolted into the housing with #1 Phillips screws. The next issue was that the turn signal switch overhangs the horn button, and has to be removed first. The small black knob on this switch has to be removed in order to pull the switch lever through the slot it runs in. It snaps onto the lever, and I freed it by working a small 90 degree machinist scribe between the bottom side of the lever and the knob to lift the plastic latch that holds it there. Then it was a matter of removing th etwo screws that hold the switch and that was out of the way.
Next was the single screw that holds the horn button in place. The horn wires interfere with the removal a little, and it would be possible to cut the zip tie that holds the complete harness to the switch body and replace it once you finish, but I managed to work around that by moving the leads with a plastic pick far enough to get the screw out.
The horn button itself is the second simplest switch I've ever seen. The button is hinged on the base plate, looking rather like a tiny desk stapler. It has a contact on its underside that connects to a coil spring that is soldered to the base plate and one of the wires. The other contact is on the base plate, and pressing the button simply puts the two together. So I worked a flat jeweler's file between the coils of the spring and scuffed up the contact surfaces, and just like that, I had a functional horn button again.
From there it was just a matter of putting the whole thing back together. Simple enough, but watch for two things: First, the horn leads do their best to get pinched by the mounting screw for the button. Keep them out of trouble by moving them out of the way as the screw tightens. Second, once the turn signal switch goes back in, you have to support the TS lever by pushing outward from the inside in order to snap the knob back on. Then close the housing up and it's finished.