Has anybody got any recommendations for a horn to replace the pathetic oem horn on my 999. If I do have occasion to press the horn button, I really don't want a weak "neep" to be the result. It's just embarrassing..
I have that denali soundbomb on my 1200enduro, the bracket purchase to fit my crash-bars was pure extortion. I can wake lorry drivers while they are going along with it though!
any twin snail-horns ought to be enough but as chizel said, there will be a weight/space penalty.12V Loud Dual Tone Twin Snail Air Horn For Boat Van Bike Car With Fittings UK | eBay
just to add to above - several of the sellers including the above listing aren't describing their product properly - not only do you only get one horn but you don't get 'dual tone' within one horn.. the above horn is a 'low' tone (grave). I assume the same seller has the the 'high' tone offered on another listing.
I've also got the Denelli on my St3, it's bloomin loud! Great to see the idiots still looking for the car as I ride by.:smile:
Ideal... That struck me immediately as a possible problem when I heard the sound on the video. It just doesn't sound like a bike somehow, so whoever you're blasting the sound at would be looking for something else as a hazard. I can't help thinking the sound should be pretty shrill.
Thanks for the warning, Chris. I can't help thinking the sound should be high rather than low pitch. A low pitch might confuse and make people look for a larger vehicle, not a high performance bike. "Grave" ??
It might be worth trying to 'tune' your existing horn before buying new? They often go out of tune and just turning the little screw somewhere on the body plus or minus 90 to 180 degrees might make it sound more manly (-: (the pitch tuner screw might not be present on a modern horn though I guess)
If it gets their attention above the screaming kids and loud music. Hence they stop and look properly, if not curiously then job done for me. My Granny couldn't tell you what a bike horn sounds like let alone hear one. But she can hear the horn of a speeding idiot in a lorry....and that would make her pause:anguished:
ironically i was just waiting for payday (today) to get one of these. You can apparently separate the horn and the compressor (ive got loads of room under the seat on my z1000) so may put the compressor in there....the only uknown quantity is the mounting position...probably going to have to make a mount up or something to fit it...
That's the thing. The deeper the tone, the larger the vehicle (or vessel) you associate it with. Of course the main thing is to grab attention but IMHO, it's a good idea if the attention you grab is looking for the right kind of hazard. Maybe I'm completely wrong about this but I reckon a shrill, high pitched sound is more likely to get someone looking for or acknowledging a bike than a deeper sound will. I don't think confusion is something to be encouraged in an emergency situation.
This story illustrates my fear of what could happen if you use a horn that gives a sound that doesn't "fit" a motorcycle: From "G.M. (August 2008)": "This "true life story" may or may not apply to the horn article, I will leave it to you to decide. I will study on these horns, as I am interested in the subject. I completely agree with our comments about defensive driving, it's best to not need your horn. Once upon a time, my third bike was a Honda 550. I had installed a Windjammer fairing on it as I commuted 60 miles a day highway riding. I installed a pair of air horns (SEV Marshall if I remember correctly). The pump was mounted inside the fairing pocket, and the horns were mounted underneath the bottom of each side of the fairing. These were the loudest horns I have ever heard on a motorcycle. They were designed for an automobile, and designed to be loud enough when hidden behind the grille, not out in the open in the manner that I mounted them. These horns were LOUD. One day on the expressway, driving defensively, keeping plenty of space around me, a car to my right started to change lanes into my lane, apparently having not bothered to check his rear view (or simply not caring there was a MC in that lane, you never know which). He was perhaps four car lengths in front of me as he started moving into my lane. He was invading my "space" and going slower than I was. I hit the air horns. He quickly moved back out of my lane, but the car 8 car lengths in front of me was so startled by the sound of my air horns that they slammed on their brakes. The guy to my right had distracted me while the guy in front tried to finish me off. Cagers will gang up on you if you give them half a chance. We were all doing about 75 MPH when this started. Although I knew it was best to hit my front brake first, my right foot rested on the rear brake and I had to reach for the front brake, so I reached the rear brake first. BAD, very bad. I locked up the rear drum brake on the 550 at 75 MPH on I-285 here in Atlanta. The back end began to wallow, I prepared to meet my Maker, and actually started moving my body toward a dismount when the bike went down, but the Lord was with me and the locked drum brake eventually broke loose, and I survived to ride another day. Oh, and the drivers who caused the whole thing were on down the road. I had only startled the car ahead of me, and he came to his senses, did not stop and got back on the gas. The moral to my tale is two fold: 1) Cagers, when confronted by an enormously loud horn blast, can become distracted and disoriented, because they are looking for an 18 wheeler, a dump truck, or the Queen Mary, when in fact "only a motorcycle" is the source of the sound; 2) one must never hit the rear brake first in an emergency (retraining was in order, as well as Honda's first 750 Super Sport, which had a rear disc that was incredibly controllable). Due to moral # 1, I am not sure that I want to ride with a mega-horn today. If I ever do, I will use it with great discretion. As for moral # 2, I have retrained myself on the rear brake/front brake thing."
