Anyone care to address a horn problem?

[DonGee]

It was a perfect riding day yesterday so I was out for several hours. At one point, I had occasion to hit the horn to punctuate an expletive. But I didn’t hear it. I thought I just missed the button and hit the signal cancelling button, but no, it was the horn. Tried again. Nothing. Or so I thought. A short while later I pulled over and made sure a connection didn’t fall off (it hadn’t). I took off my helmet and scratched my head a little and tried it again. Son of a gun. It did work. Sort of. It was more of an anemic little beep. Something obviously wasn’t right.

I’m not an electrical wizard by any stretch of the imagination, but it would seem to me that if there were a problem with the bike’s wiring, the horn wouldn’t work at all, would it? It’s obviously getting power. So what else could it be, and is there a definitive way to check? Could the horn have simply crapped out after two years?

I’ve already ordered an identical replacement horn because up until now it’s been working great, but I can always return the new one if the horn itself isn’t the problem.

Any other thoughts? Thanks.

[Designer]

About 50% pf the time it is the Horn itself...the Vibrating Diaphragm gets "stiff" and moves less.

If it is the Stock Horn, I think there is a small Adjusting Screw on the back. You might try loosening/tightening it to see of that has a constructive
effect.

And to test the wiring, using a Volt Meter, see if you get the full voltage and the two Wire Terminals when you hit the button.

[sgtcall]

If the horn itself is bad some people have gotten great results with either of these. But this is only if you care about louder.
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/den ... _id=961521
https://www.jegs.com/p/WOLO/WOLO-Bad-Bo ... 0/10002/-1

Also there is a ground in the headlight bucket that can come loose and cause the horn to stop working.

[DonGee]

Thanks for the replies.

This is not the stock horn so there's no adjusting screw to futz with. I replaced the stock horn a couple of years ago with a FIAMM 72112 Freeway Blaster LOW Note Horn. It was enough of an improvement over stock and I didn't want to dealing with adding relays or anything like that. I was looking for the easiest thing that would fit and that I could hook up.

I'll check the voltage at the terminals. And it's not that it doesn't work at all, just that it doesn't sound as loud as it used to, so I don't think it's the wiring. But I don't know, which is why I asked here.

[hillsy v2]

If the horn button itself has corrosion it can reduce the voltage at the horn which will either reduce the volume or (if low enough) stop the horn from operating.

The horn button grounds out the circuit to activate the horn. Check the wiring as well as already suggested.

[DonGee]

Thanks. And how would I check out the horn button for corrosion? Sorry if it's a dumb question, but I'm generally disinclined to start taking things apart unless I'm confident I know how to put them back together.

[hillsy v2]

Thanks. And how would I check out the horn button for corrosion? Sorry if it's a dumb question, but I'm generally disinclined to start taking things apart unless I'm confident I know how to put them back together.

Easiest way is to disconnect the horn and connect a voltmeter to the wires. Press the horn button and check voltage. If it's lower than your standing voltage then there's an issue with the switch, wiring or grounding.

If you are reading full voltage then it's the horn.

[Designer]

Yep.

And to test the wiring, using a Volt Meter, see if you get the full voltage and the two Wire Terminals when you hit the button.

[DonGee]

Thank you. Guess that's what I'll be doing tomorrow.

[Designer]

Thank you. Guess that's what I'll be doing tomorrow.

You can also check the horn by connecting it to a 12 volt source,...like your Cars Battery.

[DonGee]

Okay, you might get a kick out of this.

I went out a little while ago with my multimeter in hand and it's showing plenty of juice at the wire connectors. So on to the next step. Well, in the process of maneuvering the actual horn to get better access to the connectors on the horn itself I noticed something peculiar. Inside the open end of the horn were a bunch of what I can only imagine are seeds of some sort. A bunch of them spilled out while I was moving things around and I was able to spill the rest out after I had removed the horn from the mount. Before remounting, I hooked it up, turned the key, hit the horn and...you guessed it. Back to normal. Now, I don't know if those seeds were actually blocking the sound or if by disconnecting and reconnecting I somehow cleaned off the contacts. Either way, I guess the new horn is going back.

Oh yeah, this time I mounted it the way I should have originally, with the mouth of the horn facing down. Another lesson learned.

[Designer]

Who would have ever thought of THAT!

Glad you have it all sorted out,...and Back On the Road Again.

[DonGee]

Indeed. I love simple fixes.

As for back on the road, the season is winding down here in MA. We had a couple of nice days last week, but looking ahead I'm seeing temps in the forties and fifties. Not enjoyable for me. It might be time for another good wash, then putting it away 'til the Spring.

[hillsy v2]

Interesting problem.

Would not have happened with a stock horn.

Just saying

[navigator]

Indeed. I love simple fixes.

As for back on the road, the season is winding down here in MA. We had a couple of nice days last week, but looking ahead I'm seeing temps in the forties and fifties. Not enjoyable for me. It might be time for another good wash, then putting it away 'til the Spring.

For the seeds, blame the critters, also check you air boxes for critters.
Before you put her away, take her for a good fuel stabilizer run.

[sgtcall]

One time going on to post my car was selected for search and the guard called me out of the waiting area which was odd. When I got to the car he pointed to a TBone steak bone on top of my engine. I've cooked a few MREs on engine blocks before but never a steak.

[Herb]

2 things.

I had a horn that was not sounding like it should and was going to adjust it, found a wasp nest inside it.

cats and racoons love climbing onto a warm engine and either one of them would steal a steak bone to get the last of the meat off.

[navigator]

cats and racoons love climbing onto a warm engine ....

That's what radiator fan blades are for.

[Designer]

cats and racoons love climbing onto a warm engine ....

That's what radiator fan blades are for.

You'd wish this upon someone's CAT?

[Herb]

cats and racoons love climbing onto a warm engine ....

That's what radiator fan blades are for.

Yeah. One winter my dad was working for a mining company and they had a bunch of ferral cats around the place. He parked his pickup and went in to work. A couple of hours later he had to go after parts and when he started the engine there was a horrible screeching noise. He shut it down and one of the cats ran out from under the truck.

They didn't see that cat around for about a week and when it came back around it's tail had a wierd kink in it. They think that the tail got caught in the fan belt.