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2004 1150RT Horns do not work

R

roycet4

New member
Hi, looking for some thoughts and suggestions. I inherited a 2004 1150RT (36K miles on it) from a friends family, its been off the road since 2007. I rescued it from my friends caved in shed in Spring of 2014 and stored it in my garage. As a favor I stripped the bike down, removed the mice nests, acorns dead chipmunks etc... got the bike running and looking good. The only thing that did not work was the horns. Fast forward to 2020, . I once again have it running and once again the horns do not work. I do hear and "feel" the horn relay working and the fuse is good. I also swapped the relay with another and got the same result. I was hoping to check all the wires underneath the fuse box. Is there an easy way to get to the bottom of it?

I also was going to just jump a 12V wire to the horn to make sure they work, but noticed that the connector has two pins, I'm assuming one is power and other ground?

Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.. I am really looking forward to riding this bike

Thanks,
Royce
 
Horns

roycet4 said:
Hi, looking for some thoughts and suggestions. I inherited a 2004 1150RT (36K miles on it) from a friends family, its been off the road since 2007. I rescued it from my friends caved in shed in Spring of 2014 and stored it in my garage. As a favor I stripped the bike down, removed the mice nests, acorns dead chipmunks etc... got the bike running and looking good. The only thing that did not work was the horns. Fast forward to 2020, . I once again have it running and once again the horns do not work. I do hear and "feel" the horn relay working and the fuse is good. I also swapped the relay with another and got the same result. I was hoping to check all the wires underneath the fuse box. Is there an easy way to get to the bottom of it?

I also was going to just jump a 12V wire to the horn to make sure they work, but noticed that the connector has two pins, I'm assuming one is power and other ground?

Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.. I am really looking forward to riding this bike

Thanks,
Royce
Click to expand...

I had one of the horns go bad on my '04 RT years ago and I used a voltmeter to determine I was getting 12v to each horn when the button was pressed. Just set your voltmeter to DC voltage, unplug the wires (one horn at a time) and see if you have 12vdc. Note that the horn relay energizes both horns at once so my guess is if both horns are dead, you have a problem with your horn relay.

Relays can click (verifying that the coil side of the relay is working), but still not send voltage downstream.

RPGR90s
 
Got power to horns

I tested the voltage at both electrical connections at the horns and got reading at both. I will next take the horns off and just connect them directly to a battery and see what happens, its so odd that both would not work. Maybe there is small fossilized "things" living them? IF I need horns, any recommendations?

I do love the sign idea!
 
roycet4 said:
I tested the voltage at both electrical connections at the horns and got reading at both. I will next take the horns off and just connect them directly to a battery and see what happens, its so odd that both would not work. Maybe there is small fossilized "things" living them? IF I need horns, any recommendations?

I do love the sign idea!
Click to expand...

Did you check the ground side of the circuit? Is it by wire? Is it through the mount?
 
roycet4 said:
I tested the voltage at both electrical connections at the horns and got reading at both. I will next take the horns off and just connect them directly to a battery and see what happens, its so odd that both would not work. Maybe there is small fossilized "things" living them? IF I need horns, any recommendations?

I do love the sign idea!
Click to expand...

When connected to a known good Battery
Do you get a spark when connecting?
Leave connected and gently tap the metal body with a plastic hammer while energized.
The internal contact may be oxidized, tapping can restore function.
Lack of use causes this.

This can also be done in situ while holding the horn button down.
 
its the horns

Well. I borrowed a slightly used horn from a 1970's CB750 and the horn works when the button is pressed.. I then wacked the daylights out of the stock horns and got them to groan a bit.. but pretty useless.. So I will replace the horns.. I have not searched yet but does anyone have a "pointer" to OEM or aftermarket horns that would hopefully use the factory connectors??

Thanks
Royce..
 
roycet4 said:
Well. I borrowed a slightly used horn from a 1970's CB750 and the horn works when the button is pressed.. I then wacked the daylights out of the stock horns and got them to groan a bit.. but pretty useless.. So I will replace the horns.. I have not searched yet but does anyone have a "pointer" to OEM or aftermarket horns that would hopefully use the factory connectors??

Thanks
Royce..
Click to expand...

There are plenty of stock RT horns on Fleabay.
 
EBAY to the Rescue

$16 and change and I bought a set of horns off a 04 1150RT and they work perfectly... I ordered up about $250 of stuff from Beemer Boneyard to do some maintenance on the bike and should be riding it my the end of October.

Thanks for this help
Royce
 
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