Weak Fiamm Horn

[Darryl Cainey]

OK Super Techs;
My 1977 R100RS has 457,000 miles on it and I have the origional Fiamm Dual Horns mounted. The horns sound OK when I am riding above 2000 RPM but at idle thay make a sound like a wounded cheezie - meep - meep.

The battery is fully charged and starts the bike well and I have a new (last year) Omega charging system.

The volt meter at speed is holding 14.5+ volts but deflects to the left -2 volts when I push the horn button. At idle I am showing 10 volts when I hit the horn.

Do I need to clean / sand the contacts in the horns? Replace them?

Darryl

 

[Manfred]

I've had similar experience with TM80 dual horns and installing a relay solved this problem for me. And provided for LOUDER horns, to boot.

 

[MotorradMike]

Hi Darryl:

You've been pretty far on that bike! To the moon and well on your way back.

I think you need to replace the horns at this point. They are no longer happy with reduced voltage and are likely to get less happy as time wears on.

 

[sumran]

The relay will help if you don't have one. There should be one in the circuit already. Were the horns strong previously? Your voltage readings point to a heavy current draw. If the horns are hanging up, they draw a lot of power. Given the impressive mileage you have logged, they may be nearing the end of life.

They aren't very expensive and are easy to replace. You can get a matched set of loud ones (Fiamms) at most auto parts stores for less than $25 dollars. You will need to reuse your mounting brackets.

 

[steviewonder]

Clean the ground contact.

 

[Darryl Cainey]

The relay will help if you don't have one. There should be one in the circuit already. Were the horns strong previously? Your voltage readings point to a heavy current draw. If the horns are hanging up, they draw a lot of power. Given the impressive mileage you have logged, they may be nearing the end of life.

They aren't very expensive and are easy to replace. You can get a matched set of loud ones (Fiamms) at most auto parts stores for less than $25 dollars. You will need to reuse your mounting brackets.

Thanks for the imput!
The horns are loud when my RPM is 2000 & above, very weak below.

Just looked at the Canadian Tire Catalogue on-line at the Fiamm Horns costing $37.99, will clean contacts first.

Darryl

 

[535IS]

Just looked at the Canadian Tire Catalogue on-line at the Fiamm Horns costing $37.99, will clean contacts first.

Darryl

Yeah; that is a lot closer to what the really good FIAMMs cost these days. About $40.

 

[boxermaf]

I bought a pair of FIAMMs (one high, one low) through amazon dot com and the total was around $25. Just installed them on my R65 this weekend and they are LOUD (you want to have a 20A relay feeding them direct from the battery (with inline fuse) as they can draw up to 10A apiece. I'd clean the contacts etc and check your relay, but otherwise those horns may just be too tired and rusty inside - I would say almost half a million miles is a good service life for practically any part on a motorcycle !

 

[Chris_d]

Darryl,

If you have to buy try Princess Auto....going for $18.00 each last week!

Chris

 

[Darryl Cainey]

Darryl,

If you have to buy try Princess Auto....going for $18.00 each last week!

Chris

Hi Chris;
Do they have a hi & low horn like the CTC Kit?

You have to change your avitar to the new bike!

Darryl

 

[3moskvichi]

Fiamm horns

I just got a pair at Advance Auto parts for less than $12 each. Funny though, they had them with english on one package and spanish on another. The spanish-labled horns were the cheap ones, even though the horns themselves were otherwise identical.

 

[Chris_d]

Hi Chris;
Do they have a hi & low horn like the CTC Kit?

You have to change your avitar to the new bike!

Darryl

They do have hi/low tone horns, I'm not familiar with 'CTC'.

Chris

 

[Darryl Cainey]

They do have hi/low tone horns, I'm not familiar with 'CTC'.

Chris

Canadian Tire Corporation

 

[GeorgeRyals]

Horns

Clean all of the wiring contacts and the horn contacts and they will go back to where they were. The horns are drawing starter type current to pull voltage down to 8 volts. You should also have your battery load checked.

 

[GeorgeRyals]

Horns

Since you are obviously a touring kind of guy, you need to adjust your charging voltage to 13.8 volts or so. On a long run, 14.5 volts is too much! You may have already cooked your battery. Check the level.