Loud A$$ Horn Recommendations for V7 III Requested

[Guzzi Gal]

When my Anni arrives this weekend, I'd like to do a horn upgrade.  My girl should know how to make her presence known, if the need should arise.  I would prefer something plug, and play, and won't mess with her stock look too much.  That said, if one horn is recommended above all others, and requires additional whatsits, I'm good with that.

Thanks, in advance, for all your help.

 

[Bonaventure]

Denali mini sound bomb.  About same size as OEM, deeper lower tone more honk honk less meep meep.  Same or similar power draw as OEM, which is important in my opinion.  Don't want to place too much load on the system with a fog horn off a cruise ship, LoL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnZr0QQmNQQ

Sound test at 25 seconds into the video.

[normzone]

Two words - Hella Horns

My wife was unhappy that her Toyota Corolla had anemic horns that people would ignore - I put Hellas on it and she said when she honked people stopped and looked around to see where that sound was coming from.

After the Corolla was rear ended and totaled, the Hellas went on my Bassa. We have a sound meter at work I tested them with - the meter maxes out at 109 decibels and the Hellas cause the meter to display an over range message.

[malik]

Note that the Denali ones are available from Revzilla - important source with a low fixed rate international postage for us colonials.

The original horns on the V7 Classic were quite loud (louder than those on the 2014 V7 Special & likely louder than other, later models), but the LHS one failed after 6 years & 160,000 km - ended up replacing that with a cheap stainless one from MCS, also a clamshell type - not quite as loud, but as it is a different tone from the RHS, still reasonably effective. I believe that there are loud matched dual tone clamshell horns on the market, but I haven't yet found them to test out. Note that there are smart phone sound meter apps to get a rough comparison between what you have & those in the shops.

Mal

[Moto]

Two words - Hella Horns
...
We have a sound meter at work I tested them with - the meter maxes out at 109 decibels and the Hellas cause the meter to display an over range message.

At what distance? 1 meter?

[Two Checks]

FIAMM. Ready available at auto parts stores and, Guzzi requirement...cheep .
Used as OEM on some Guzzis.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Here Canadian Tire sell a pair of Fiaam Freeway Blaster snail-shell horns for about $35 one Hi, one Lo
These are not Air horns, just the regular electromagnetic variety
These are really loud but ONLY if you give them a good supply and use the relay they come with.
I stuck a pair on my EV which has a factory supplied Horn Relay but it's not wired with heavy enough wire to drive them to full potential
Battery to in-line fuse to Fiamm relay to Horn is the only way to go.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-horns/fiamm-freeway-blaster/
I have put them on all my Guzzis, will put a pair on my Griso ASAP
I tell a lie, the California II came with Fiaams as stock, that's where I learnt how good they are.

BTW, be sure to mount so they are self draining, a few drops of water will silence them.

[normzone]

At what distance? 1 meter? 

Roughly. The stockers they replaced tested out at something in the neighborhood of a hundred.

[cj750]

FIAMM 72102 Freeway Blaster HIGH Note
FIAMM 72112 Freeway Blaster LOW Note

Put these on my Stelvio. (With a relay.)

Inexpensive and VERY loud.

[Gliderjohn]

I really need to do this to the Norge as it's horns are a pathetic excuse. My OEM T-3 horns are much louder.
GliderJohn

[Psychopasta]

Denali mini sound bomb.  About same size as OEM, deeper lower tone more honk honk less meep meep.  Same or similar power draw as OEM, which is important in my opinion.  Don't want to place too much load on the system with a fog horn off a cruise ship, LoL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnZr0QQmNQQ

Sound test at 25 seconds into the video.

^^^ This.

Fitted to my Tiger this weekend and meep meep became honk honk. Muy bueno!

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I have a pair of these (high and low tones) on my Convert, powered from the relay of Greg Bender's excellent "relay solution". Very loud - I can believe the claimed 112 dbs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00029XGIM/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_20?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[timax]

I have had a STEBEL NAUTILUS horn before but find the loud "honk" rather than a "beep" dosnt really get peoples attention.
I think its the annoying high pitched BEEP that gets a better reaction.
So for me the standard horn on my V72 seem fine for the city.
Any other thoughts on the best "tone"? Not the nicest sounding as we dont want nice we want to be noticed.

[Dean Rose]

Fiaam Freeway Blaster get the High and low tone it sounds like a big Buick. They'll get out of the way then.

Got them on my EV

Dean

[rodekyll]

I have had a STEBEL NAUTILUS horn before but find the loud "honk" rather than a "beep" dosnt really get peoples attention.
I think its the annoying high pitched BEEP that gets a better reaction.
So for me the standard horn on my V72 seem fine for the city.
Any other thoughts on the best "tone"? Not the nicest sounding as we dont want nice we want to be noticed.

I've got these.  They worked good the one time I used them last year.  Traffic in that area is still recovering.  They're airhorns, but not real bulky.  advertised for 135dB.

[wymple]

FIAMM. Ready available at auto parts stores and, Guzzi requirement...cheep .
Used as OEM on some Guzzis.

Yup, these things are bad*ss and pretty cheap.

[redhawk47]

On my Stelvio I installed a Stebel Nautilus Low Tone - it sounds like a diesel truck horn. I also had a friend build an electronic circuit for the switch - if you pressed the button momentarily the OEM horn would beep, but if you held the button down both horns would honk. More on this later. Plans for the circuit came from an article in BMW ON magazine. The honk was impressive.

When I traded the Stelvio for my V7II Stone I kept the horn and circuit. But the horn seem to be too big for the V7 - more on this later too. So I got a Denali Mini Sound Bomb. An advantage of this horn is that you can use the stock wiring, no relay required. It's not as loud as some, but it is much better that OEM. I mounted it using a bracket that came with it -- had to make a couple of bends to get it where I wanted it. Many miles later, while riding down the west side of Independence Pass I smelled something funny. The horn was "resting" on the exhaust pipe and had melted enough that you could see the innards. The bracket had broken in one of the bends. The horn still worked, but the guts are exposed to the weather. Note to self: thicker metal for the bracket, large radius bends.

So I watched the video linked in the second post of this thread, and then watched the next video for the Shockwave by Screaming Banshee. I am impressed. Their dB claim is not as high as others, but they say it is conservative, and that side by side tests show that their horn is louder. They have worked hard to put it in a smaller package - it is an air horn like the Stebel Nautilus and the Denali Sound Bomb (not the mini). Three bonus features: 1) it is a high amp horn that needs a relay, but they have built the relay into the horn so you just run the wire to your battery. Wiring and fuse included. 2) It has the option of a low power beep for 1.5 sec before it goes to full power honk, or you can just go to the honk immediately. 3) it includes a wire to your high beam headlight that will flash your headlight when you honk. You don't have to hook this up.

Seriously thinking about the Shockwave I went out to look at the V7 to see if I could fit it in somewhere. I decided that it would fit in the space where the OEM horn is and behind the engine guard, but might be close to the exhaust pipe. As I was figuring this out I was using the Stebel (even though it is bigger) to gauge how much room there was. Lo and behold - there is enough room for the Stebel. I'll be mounting it through the OEM horn mounting hole and it will be difficult getting the nut on the backside, but it will work. Now, if I can find my notes for how to wire the double beep circuit.

[Diploman]

As a general rule, I believe that motorcyclists tend to grossly underestimate the importance and usefulness of powerful, penetrating horns, and thus the majority of bikes operate with pathetically flaccid OEM bleaters, misleadingly labelled as horns. In an era when distracted driving is increasingly the norm, with many drivers focused more on the smartphone screen than the road environment outside, hi-viz riding gear and hi-intensity bike lighting are equally invisible; loud exhausts are simply a constant feature of the overall road noise and draw no particular attention from the cager cloistered behind rolled up windows, with AC and smartphone, perhaps music/radio as well.  Encountering this lethal creature on the road, the motorcyclist has only one option to penetrate the text-absorbed consciousness of the dangerously distracted motorist:  a hi-decibel, dual-tone, hi-amp horn that can cut through the overall road noise environment and closed windows to draw the cager's attention back to the road.  The horn alert is often the only means available to the motorcyclist to influence the behavior of cagers whose attention is frequently elsewhere.

For years I have fitted dual FIAMM Freeway Blasters to my bikes.  These are a staple and never a bad choice.  As with most serious, hi-amp horns, they require a relay.  Hella Supertones are another excellent dual-tone electromechanical horn set, but are better suited to cars than bikes because of their considerable size and heft.  The Stebel Nautilus is a classic compact dual-tone air horn, well suited to motorcycles except that its awkward compressor/horn package is difficult to mount.   Denali's Soundbomb is reportedly an improved knockoff version of the Stebel Nautilus that overcomes the latter's reliability issues (see WebBike World's horn tests).  Perhaps the most suitable for motorcycle use is the Denali SoundBomb split, which separates the horn and compressor into distinct, easy-to-mount units connected by a hose.  This is an excellent unit whose only drawback is the somewhat porky weight of the compressor.
Another advantage of the Denali Split is that the horn unit is easily mounted oriented forward, an important factor since most threats come from the front.  I have a DenaliSplit on my V50 and it never fails to get the attention of the  cager whose awareness is suspect.  I use it most frequently to warn drivers about to turn left into my path or those about to pull out into the road from the right.  I would feel far more vulnerable without the extremely valuable capability to make my presence and approach known to cagers at a distance in advance.

The Denali SoundBomb Mini advocated above is certainly an upgrade from OEM and a step in the right direction.  It is lightweight, simple to mount and its modest power requirements do not need a relay.  All good features.  However, the Mini, a single-tone electromechanical unit, doesn't have nearly the penetrating acoustic power of the hi-amp, dual tone units.  It is definitely a step up from the typical OEM horn, but compared to the more serious units it is only a half-measure.  If you want the full protection a hi-decibel horn can offer, you need to fit a set of dual-tone, hi-amp, relay-driven horns. There are a number of good ones on the market.

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/denali-soundbomb-split-dual-tone-air-horn

[twowheeladdict]

My V7 Café has two horns with nice chrome covers.  It is quite loud. 

I rarely use a horn. 

When I have had loud horns on bikes I only used them as a warning or as an afterthought to let the driver know I wasn't happy with them. 

I am usually to busy maneuvering and keeping in my safe zone to have time to blast the horn when it would be really needed. 

[rss29]

I always find these horn threads interesting. Every car and motorcycle forum is full of threads with people looking to make their horns louder. Some of the truck forums even have guys fitting air powered train horns to their vehicles. In all my years of driving, I can’t recall ever having used my horn on any vehicle. Definitely never in anger at another driver. Just yesterday I honked the horn in my truck because I realized I had never heard it, despite having owned it since March.

[rbm]

I have Fiamm Highway Blasters on my V7R that were transplanted from my BMW K-bike.  The K-bike has a Stebel Nautilus.  Both are adequate for distracted drivers in Toronto.

I've been toying with the idea of building an embedded system connected to an audio amplifier and horn-shaped speaker.  The horn-shaped speaker will have a good impedance match to the air and be efficient transmitter of sound energy.  The embedded system would have flash storage where I could store any type of sound file  -- truck horn, train horn, screeching tires, etc.  Then with sufficient amplification, I'd be emulating a much larger vehicle or a serious impending traffic condition, to the ears of the distracted offender.  I'm certain that it would grab their attention.

[Guzzi Gal]

The embedded system would have flash storage where I could store any type of sound file  -- truck horn, train horn, screeching tires, etc.  Then with sufficient amplification, I'd be emulating a much larger vehicle or a serious impending traffic condition, to the ears of the distracted offender.  I'm certain that it would grab their attention.

Ooooo, the possibilities!   

[Yukonica]

Like Normzone, I have Hella's on my V7s. Running them through the stock wiring is an improvement over OEM but this winter I'll pull the tank and wire them in for higher amperage. The problem is location; they are too big to face forward on the upper (spare) cross-frame bracket above the voltage regulator without contacting the brake line. Currently they are bolted in the original location but look terribly out of scale/place.





Just thinking to move the voltage reg up to the higher bracket and move the horns underneath facing forward. Should there be any concerns about air-flow on either the regulator or the heads? ~ the frames are now painted black so they shouldn't stand out so much.

[Diploman]

Yukonica, Your Hella Supertones - at full voltage - have a wicked, abrasive blast that is impossible to ignore.  They will prove a major asset to your riding safety, and you are to be congratulated for fitting them.  You will get the full benefit of these units by driving them directly off the battery via a relay, at the same time taking the load off your (fragile) horn switch.  As you noted, they are big and rather heavy.  I suggest you might fabricate a bracket that would attach to the upper cross brace and extend downwards, allowing you to stack both horns above the alternator cover facing forward.  You could even overlap them a bit if needed.  In this configuration there would be no question about interference with airflow to the cylinder heads.

Safe travels, Will

[redhawk47]

I've been toying with the idea of building an embedded system connected to an audio amplifier and horn-shaped speaker.  The horn-shaped speaker will have a good impedance match to the air and be efficient transmitter of sound energy.  The embedded system would have flash storage where I could store any type of sound file  -- truck horn, train horn, screeching tires, etc.  Then with sufficient amplification, I'd be emulating a much larger vehicle or a serious impending traffic condition, to the ears of the distracted offender.  I'm certain that it would grab their attention.

Check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv8wqnk_TsA

[Guzzi Gal]

Check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv8wqnk_TsA

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[Tusayan]

As a general rule, I believe that motorcyclists tend to grossly underestimate the importance and usefulness of powerful, penetrating horns, and thus the majority of bikes operate with pathetically flaccid OEM bleaters

I prefer silence and avoiding confrontation in traffic.  In 40+ years of riding, I can't remember once using a motorcycle horn in any traffic situation, in either the US or any European county.   Mine are 'used' only occasionally, to make sure they still function!  I've never been injured on a motorcycle, for that or any other reason, so for me a horn of any kind is clearly not a necessity.

[stonelover]

Have been riding since 1955 and have only needed a horn to pass annual motor vehicle inspections. In tight situations I've been too busy managing the bike to consider the horn.

[Yukonica]

I don't want my town to suffer the cacophony of a major metropolitan centre so I, too, use my horn sparingly. But I do use it. In a preemptive manner. For example; to signal the person, who is trying to use their vehicle to intimidate their way through a 4 way stop, that they are known to be in the wrong. My town also experiences a high number of motor vehicle tourists who, perhaps understandably, gawk rather than concentrate. I am unashamed to wake them from doing something inattentive.

It is my responsibility, to myself, to raise general awareness that motorcyclists are sharing the transportation corridors. I promise to cease my actions the very day all traffic shows the same awareness of bikes as it collectively does when there is a police cruiser in the vicinity.

[Diploman]

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