LAF
Well-known member
Hmm, so you did find the size of bolt I used? Since mine came out of my go to coffee can, do you know the size for others?
New PIAA Slimline Sports Horn
- Thread starter HaulinAshe
- Start date
Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:
fossilrider
Well-known member
I purchased the Piaa Slim Line Sports as a set from LTB Autosports (Florida) $57 for a set in May. Unless I am reading their site incorrectly the set is now available for $49.95.
PIAA SPORTS HORN SLIM LINE 85114
Fit perfect, no relay, no cutting, sound awesome.
PIAA SPORTS HORN SLIM LINE 85114
Fit perfect, no relay, no cutting, sound awesome.
Last edited by a moderator:
threw a set of the Piaa Sport Horn on the 2010. i went with the low tone (american SUV sound)
took 10 minutes. plug and play. no trimming. used the existing bolt up points and existing wires. easy.
no relay. no problem. and a huge improvement over stock.
i will say that the wireing is tight coming out of the fairing, and the lower pole will be a stretch. and if you don't want to put too much strain on your wires, build a 'jumper'.
took me 10 more minutes. I built a 3inch jumper with male/female blade to take the strain off the original wires. easy.
I would recomment that if you build the jumper, the male end that you plug into the original female might benefit from either a shrinkwrap cover or a male with a silicon shield. this is to keep movement from allowing the jumper connections to touch somewhere underneath the fairing and arc or ground out your horn when you hit the button.
and if anyone needs high quality jumpers, i could probably make one up pretty quick and drop em in the mail... on the 2010 at least, you only need one per side.
took 10 minutes. plug and play. no trimming. used the existing bolt up points and existing wires. easy.
no relay. no problem. and a huge improvement over stock.
i will say that the wireing is tight coming out of the fairing, and the lower pole will be a stretch. and if you don't want to put too much strain on your wires, build a 'jumper'.
took me 10 more minutes. I built a 3inch jumper with male/female blade to take the strain off the original wires. easy.
I would recomment that if you build the jumper, the male end that you plug into the original female might benefit from either a shrinkwrap cover or a male with a silicon shield. this is to keep movement from allowing the jumper connections to touch somewhere underneath the fairing and arc or ground out your horn when you hit the button.
and if anyone needs high quality jumpers, i could probably make one up pretty quick and drop em in the mail... on the 2010 at least, you only need one per side.
Fontanaman
Robin Trower
Like Fossil I purchased the Piaa Slim Line Sports as a set from LTB Autosports for about $50.00.
I was able to use the existing wiring and existing bolt up points. Due to tight clearances it was not quick but not really difficult. Piaa should identify on the horn which terminal is positive and negative - that is in the wiring diagram. Keeping +- oriented in my head while looking at it upside down is downright annoying. And then you have to keep the instructions - yeah like that is going to happen.
The horns are very loud, much louder than the stock FJR horns which sound like a road runner with laryngitis.
Heck I never used the stock horns cause they are useless. Now I have to retrain myself to use the horn in sticky situations - usually I am busy braking or trying to find a way out - not looking for the darn horn.
I was able to use the existing wiring and existing bolt up points. Due to tight clearances it was not quick but not really difficult. Piaa should identify on the horn which terminal is positive and negative - that is in the wiring diagram. Keeping +- oriented in my head while looking at it upside down is downright annoying. And then you have to keep the instructions - yeah like that is going to happen.
The horns are very loud, much louder than the stock FJR horns which sound like a road runner with laryngitis.
Heck I never used the stock horns cause they are useless. Now I have to retrain myself to use the horn in sticky situations - usually I am busy braking or trying to find a way out - not looking for the darn horn.
Last edited by a moderator:
The unfortunate thing about this thread is that people are interchangeably referring to the PIAA (standard) Sports Horns and PIAA Slimline Sports Horns even though they are not exactly the same thing. And this is not just an issue on this thread. Even some of the internet and eBay resellers are confusing the terms and pictures of these products. The reason that I wanted to get this all straight is I wondered what you were getting for the added current draw of the standard sports horns.
The PIAA Slimline Sports Horns
look like this:
These can be bought singly (500Hz only) or in pairs (400/500 Hz only)
PIAA Model numbers:
76501 - Single 500Hz Slimline Sports Horn
85114 - Dual 400 / 500 Hz Slimline Sports Horns
According to the PIAA's own web site these horns each produce 112 dB
According to Jeff Ashe's measurements these horns use less power (3.1 amps) than the stock FJR's horns (3.3 amps)
Standard PIAA Sports Horns
look like this:
These can be bought singly (500Hz only) or in pairs (400/500 or 500/600 Hz)
PIAA Model numbers:
76500 - Single 500Hz Sports Horn
85110 - Dual 400 / 500 Hz Sports Horns
85112 - Dual 500 / 600 Hz Sports Horns
According to the PIAA's own web site these horns each produce 115 dB
There was an assertion made by PIAA that these draw "about 4 amps" each, but no mention was made at what voltage this occurs (it matters) and to the best of my knowledge nobody has ever actually measured this current on an FJR installation and compared directly it to their stock horns.
Pricing on all of these PIAA horns is hilarious. All of the following list prices were taken from thePIAA web site. The list price for the dual slimlines is $64.98 (street price is ~$50) and the list price for a single 500Hz slimline is $59.95. :huh: Likewise, the list price for the dual Standard sports horn kits is $53.35 and the list price for a single 500Hz standard Sports Horn is $56.50. :huh: Why anyone would buy a single horn is a mystery to me when for the same (or less) money you could be buying a pair of them.
My Conclusions:
The PIAA Slimline Sports horns are known to draw less current through the wiring and horn switch than the stock FJR horns and are therefore completely safe. They are well established to be louder than the stock FJR horns in side by side comparisons.
The Standard PIAA Sports Horns do have a larger current draw, though how much greater, and whether this might be detrimental to the stock FJR wiring, has not been determined (other than anecdotally) . Like the Slimlines, these have also been established to be considerably louder than the stock FJR horns. They may be ~3 dB louder than the Slimline sports horns (per PIAA's own specs), though this also has not been measured, nor has a side by side comparison of these horns been done (that I could find) to determine if this difference is appreciable.
The PIAA Slimline Sports Horns
look like this:
These can be bought singly (500Hz only) or in pairs (400/500 Hz only)
PIAA Model numbers:
76501 - Single 500Hz Slimline Sports Horn
85114 - Dual 400 / 500 Hz Slimline Sports Horns
According to the PIAA's own web site these horns each produce 112 dB
According to Jeff Ashe's measurements these horns use less power (3.1 amps) than the stock FJR's horns (3.3 amps)
Standard PIAA Sports Horns
look like this:
These can be bought singly (500Hz only) or in pairs (400/500 or 500/600 Hz)
PIAA Model numbers:
76500 - Single 500Hz Sports Horn
85110 - Dual 400 / 500 Hz Sports Horns
85112 - Dual 500 / 600 Hz Sports Horns
According to the PIAA's own web site these horns each produce 115 dB
There was an assertion made by PIAA that these draw "about 4 amps" each, but no mention was made at what voltage this occurs (it matters) and to the best of my knowledge nobody has ever actually measured this current on an FJR installation and compared directly it to their stock horns.
Pricing on all of these PIAA horns is hilarious. All of the following list prices were taken from thePIAA web site. The list price for the dual slimlines is $64.98 (street price is ~$50) and the list price for a single 500Hz slimline is $59.95. :huh: Likewise, the list price for the dual Standard sports horn kits is $53.35 and the list price for a single 500Hz standard Sports Horn is $56.50. :huh: Why anyone would buy a single horn is a mystery to me when for the same (or less) money you could be buying a pair of them.
My Conclusions:
The PIAA Slimline Sports horns are known to draw less current through the wiring and horn switch than the stock FJR horns and are therefore completely safe. They are well established to be louder than the stock FJR horns in side by side comparisons.
The Standard PIAA Sports Horns do have a larger current draw, though how much greater, and whether this might be detrimental to the stock FJR wiring, has not been determined (other than anecdotally) . Like the Slimlines, these have also been established to be considerably louder than the stock FJR horns. They may be ~3 dB louder than the Slimline sports horns (per PIAA's own specs), though this also has not been measured, nor has a side by side comparison of these horns been done (that I could find) to determine if this difference is appreciable.
SkooterG
Purveyor of Crooked Facts
Well said Fred. It took my quite a while to figure out what was what when I was researching this back when. I ended up going with the dual SPORTS horns in 500 and 600 hz. Very happy with them. Quick to install - about 20-30 minutes and no issues as of yet.
I didn't mention it because it wasn't important to the posted summary, but I already have a single 500Hz slimline horn, bought used on the forum, that I'm going to try out. I had bought it for my Triumph Trophy (when I still had it) but I didn't think it worked all that well in that application. I seem to recall that there was only a single horn on the Trophy, so hopefully it will work better in conjunction with the remaining FJR horn.
SkooterG
Purveyor of Crooked Facts
Well measure the current of the damned thing! I am really not too worried about the current draw of the dual SPORTS horns. Quite a few people have mounted them with no reports of problems. To me, it's kind of like engine failures due to oil - a non-issue.
Jeff Ashe already measured the Slimline horn's current.
It's the horns that you have that are the big mystery.
What I may do is to set up an SPL meter and measure the volume (and frequency) of the two stock horns vs the PIAA slimline. If the slimline doesn't cut the mustard, I may buy a pair of the (non-slimline) Sports Horns (like yours) and then I could fill in all of the blanks.
It's the horns that you have that are the big mystery.
What I may do is to set up an SPL meter and measure the volume (and frequency) of the two stock horns vs the PIAA slimline. If the slimline doesn't cut the mustard, I may buy a pair of the (non-slimline) Sports Horns (like yours) and then I could fill in all of the blanks.
azitlies
Well-known member
SkooterG
Purveyor of Crooked Facts
Yes, a good reference, but slightly flawed test
The gauge of wiring in the FJR is unknown to me, but may also effect the current draw. And the tester did not make any control / reference measurements of a stock pair of FJR horns on his fixture to compare.
What is extremely interesting is that the higher tone 500 Hz horn used so much less power than the 400 Hz. I did not expect that. I wonder if Jeff Ashe's prior measurement was only on a 500 Hz horn (I think that was the case) in which case these "regular sport horns" may use the exact same power as the slimlines.
Ideally, these measurements would all be made in-situ on the bike in question to eliminate all possible variables.
FWIW any digital DVM would be plenty accurate enough for these relative comparisons.
The "flaw" is that we are not running the horns off of a 12.5 volt source, but rather a 14.2 volt source. If we simply extrapolated to the higher voltage of a running bike (14.2 V) we would get 3.7 and 3.2 amps for the two horns.
The gauge of wiring in the FJR is unknown to me, but may also effect the current draw. And the tester did not make any control / reference measurements of a stock pair of FJR horns on his fixture to compare.
What is extremely interesting is that the higher tone 500 Hz horn used so much less power than the 400 Hz. I did not expect that. I wonder if Jeff Ashe's prior measurement was only on a 500 Hz horn (I think that was the case) in which case these "regular sport horns" may use the exact same power as the slimlines.
Ideally, these measurements would all be made in-situ on the bike in question to eliminate all possible variables.
FWIW any digital DVM would be plenty accurate enough for these relative comparisons.
Last edited by a moderator:
Okay, in the interest of further Friday foolishness on this subject, I just went down to the garage and measured the horn frequencies using my netbook running a little musical instrument tuning program called "PitchPerfect Guitar Tuner" It tells you what the fundamental frequency is of any tone it receives via the PC microphone.
The left side horn (when seated facing forward) by itself, registered at 341 Hz
The PIAA "500 hz" slimline sports horn registered as 508 Hz
The right side stock horn registered as 2799 Hz. :blink: No wonder it sounds like the roadrunner!! meep meep.
So I guess the one to replace is the ultra high tone one on the right side. Then I'll have basically the same as the 400 / 500 Hz setup.
Also, FWIW, the markings on the OEM stock horns both say "105dB, 12V 3A."
The left side horn (when seated facing forward) by itself, registered at 341 Hz
The PIAA "500 hz" slimline sports horn registered as 508 Hz
The right side stock horn registered as 2799 Hz. :blink: No wonder it sounds like the roadrunner!! meep meep.
So I guess the one to replace is the ultra high tone one on the right side. Then I'll have basically the same as the 400 / 500 Hz setup.
Also, FWIW, the markings on the OEM stock horns both say "105dB, 12V 3A."
Last edited by a moderator:
mdisher
formerly Renegade, get used to it.
azitlies
Well-known member
For those that care, this link is to the PIAA website for both of these horns, and in both cases they state " No wiring harness is required".
That, along with the other amp info we have (albeit not perfect), and the experience of many of us (no blown horn switches)... my take is they are fine. But to each their own of course.
That, along with the other amp info we have (albeit not perfect), and the experience of many of us (no blown horn switches)... my take is they are fine. But to each their own of course.
SkooterG
Purveyor of Crooked Facts
running the sports on a 2010. love em. plug n play. no problem.
ALSO, put them on an 06. slipped right in. no jumper, no problem.
ALSO, put them on an 06. slipped right in. no jumper, no problem.
Oh come on now, all you shoot from the hip, "it worked for me so it'll work for you" types...
Aren't you inquisitive? Don't you want to know the real facts? :blink:
Aren't you inquisitive? Don't you want to know the real facts? :blink:
SkooterG
Purveyor of Crooked Facts
Of course! And I have been patiently waiting for one of you anal-retentive engineer types to provide that info. All to no avail. So in the meantime, for the rest of us folks in the Real World, we are happily toot, toot, tooting along.
You must have just a little patience, you antihelix endowed wonder, you.
All will be revealed in due time, my boy. Due time...
Meanwhile, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
All will be revealed in due time, my boy. Due time...
Meanwhile, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
