We've all no-doubt seen the rather expensive Denali air horns and their less expensive smaller 112dB variants knocking about, so I though Id try my hand at making up something almost as loud as the big denali without the need for any wiring changes other than the fitting of an adaptor for plug and play to the standard horn wiring connector under the nose fairing.
First I tried out one of those £15 Chinese snail-type 112dB horns, which, I suspect, are the exact same thing as the Denali mini, but cheaper. The one I bought was labelled as a "510 Hz" horn. You have to buy a Denali wiring adaptor to fit the canbus loom connector and that's about £12.50 delivered.
It's a definite upgrade and was louder than standard but still wasn't enough to make dopey tin box drivers take note.
It was whilst trawling through what might be available to fit that I found the perfect answer, in a direct replacement electric and air horn for the BMW E39 series of cars, this one being a low tone (420 Hz):
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-VEM-Air-And-Electric-Horn-V20-77-0005-1-Top-German-Quality/192557007162?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
This should, so I thought, fit straight on to the standard bike wiring as it used the same connector.
I ordered one and after it arrived I found that it wouldn't fit except using the extension bracket supplied with the Chinese horn and then the wiring is too short to reach the connector. Not one to give up, I cut back the plastic around the pin connectors on the horn, snipped off the pins and exposed the larger brass contacts beneath the plastic and soldered two new wire OFC extensions to them.
The joints were then sealed with hot-melt glue to weather proof everything, and I soldered the other ends of the wires to the denali extension wires (although you could just crimp on spades and push-fit straight to the denali extension wire....I didn't have any in the workshop).
A little fiddling with the mounting bracket and 5 minutes later it was all fitted largely out of site with the horn facing downwards to keep the rain from getting in.
Now the next step is optional as it could land you in A&E !!!
I called my wife into the utility room next to the garage and as she loomed into view, wondering what I wanted, I pressed the horn. I did feel guilty about seeing a small 5 ft lady almost embed her bonce into the ceiling some 2ft above her and I hid behind the bike...er...just in case. After some heart-clutching and threatening language, she retreated to back to safety.
Blimey, that's one loud horn! I haven't measured it at 1m yet but expect it will be between 120 and 130dBa. So cheaper than a Chinese copy of the mini Denali and way louder than the standard horn or Denali mini.
Highly recommended...ear muffs needed if testing in a confined space!
First I tried out one of those £15 Chinese snail-type 112dB horns, which, I suspect, are the exact same thing as the Denali mini, but cheaper. The one I bought was labelled as a "510 Hz" horn. You have to buy a Denali wiring adaptor to fit the canbus loom connector and that's about £12.50 delivered.
It's a definite upgrade and was louder than standard but still wasn't enough to make dopey tin box drivers take note.
It was whilst trawling through what might be available to fit that I found the perfect answer, in a direct replacement electric and air horn for the BMW E39 series of cars, this one being a low tone (420 Hz):
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-VEM-Air-And-Electric-Horn-V20-77-0005-1-Top-German-Quality/192557007162?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
This should, so I thought, fit straight on to the standard bike wiring as it used the same connector.
I ordered one and after it arrived I found that it wouldn't fit except using the extension bracket supplied with the Chinese horn and then the wiring is too short to reach the connector. Not one to give up, I cut back the plastic around the pin connectors on the horn, snipped off the pins and exposed the larger brass contacts beneath the plastic and soldered two new wire OFC extensions to them.
The joints were then sealed with hot-melt glue to weather proof everything, and I soldered the other ends of the wires to the denali extension wires (although you could just crimp on spades and push-fit straight to the denali extension wire....I didn't have any in the workshop).
A little fiddling with the mounting bracket and 5 minutes later it was all fitted largely out of site with the horn facing downwards to keep the rain from getting in.
Now the next step is optional as it could land you in A&E !!!
I called my wife into the utility room next to the garage and as she loomed into view, wondering what I wanted, I pressed the horn. I did feel guilty about seeing a small 5 ft lady almost embed her bonce into the ceiling some 2ft above her and I hid behind the bike...er...just in case. After some heart-clutching and threatening language, she retreated to back to safety.
Blimey, that's one loud horn! I haven't measured it at 1m yet but expect it will be between 120 and 130dBa. So cheaper than a Chinese copy of the mini Denali and way louder than the standard horn or Denali mini.
Highly recommended...ear muffs needed if testing in a confined space!
