I want a louder horn: Difference between revisions

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The low-tone horn is still relatively high-toned. It cuts through noise quite well. The difference is that when people hear a deep horn, they get more of that instinctive "Oh crap, what's going to smoosh me?" feeling. You want them to have the feeling that they're impinging on your space. It seems to produce a more pronounced effect than the high-tone horn. When you hear that low-tone horn, you look around for the big Cadillac that's about to turn your car into junkyard art.

It's a direct replacement. No relay is necessary. It includes a bracket for mounting. You can either remove the nut holding the horn to the bracket and retain the stock bracket, or remove the one bolt holding the bracket to the bike and use the new bracket instead. Just try and see; the brackets are very similar. Installation time is estimated at "120 seconds".

It's a direct replacement. No relay is necessary (but see below). It includes a bracket for mounting. You can either remove the nut holding the horn to the bracket and retain the stock bracket, or remove the one bolt holding the bracket to the bike and use the new bracket instead. Just try and see; the brackets are very similar. Installation time is estimated at "120 seconds".

A couple things to remember: The horn on the EX250 is "always hot" (meaning it always has 12V supplied). The horn button grounds it. Also, don't forget that the EX250 frame is also grounded. So, if the horn body is connected to its terminals, you need to isolate the horn body. This is one reason why the stock horn is mounted on a rubber insulator.

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[[Image:IMG_1895.jpg|150px]] [[Image:IMG_1899.jpg|100px]]

====Using a relay====

To provide the most power, and thus get the most noise, you can wire a relay to power your horn. This isn't necessary; some people do, some don't. The OEM harness runs the horn power through a mile of wiring and a dozen different connections until it gets to the horn switch. There are lots of places for voltage drop. So, with [[How do relays work?|a relay]], you use the OEM wiring to power the relay, and put in new wiring for the horn. The relay uses a small amount of power (the original switch circuit) to turn on and off a bigger amount of power (the new heavier wire) to the horn. This is true for bigger headlights or any other higher-current-draw accessories you want to add to your motorcycle.

Here's how to do this. '''Currently unfinished.'''

'''Sound link:''' [http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i307/gulley04/ninja%20250/?action=view&current=Hornupgrade.flv FIAMM Freeway Blaster]

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 The low-tone horn is still relatively high-toned. It cuts through noise quite well. The difference is that when people hear a deep horn, they get more of that instinctive "Oh crap, what's going to smoosh me?" feeling. You want them to have the feeling that they're impinging on your space. It seems to produce a more pronounced effect than the high-tone horn. When you hear that low-tone horn, you look around for the big Cadillac that's about to turn your car into junkyard art.
-It's a direct replacement. No relay is necessary. It includes a bracket for mounting. You can either remove the nut holding the horn to the bracket and retain the stock bracket, or remove the one bolt holding the bracket to the bike and use the new bracket instead. Just try and see; the brackets are very similar. Installation time is estimated at "120 seconds".
+It's a direct replacement. No relay is necessary (but see below). It includes a bracket for mounting. You can either remove the nut holding the horn to the bracket and retain the stock bracket, or remove the one bolt holding the bracket to the bike and use the new bracket instead. Just try and see; the brackets are very similar. Installation time is estimated at "120 seconds".
 A couple things to remember: The horn on the EX250 is "always hot" (meaning it always has 12V supplied). The horn button grounds it. Also, don't forget that the EX250 frame is also grounded. So, if the horn body is connected to its terminals, you need to isolate the horn body. This is one reason why the stock horn is mounted on a rubber insulator.
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 [[Image:IMG_1895.jpg|150px]] [[Image:IMG_1899.jpg|100px]]
+====Using a relay====
+To provide the most power, and thus get the most noise, you can wire a relay to power your horn. This isn't necessary; some people do, some don't. The OEM harness runs the horn power through a mile of wiring and a dozen different connections until it gets to the horn switch. There are lots of places for voltage drop. So, with [[How do relays work?|a relay]], you use the OEM wiring to power the relay, and put in new wiring for the horn. The relay uses a small amount of power (the original switch circuit) to turn on and off a bigger amount of power (the new heavier wire) to the horn. This is true for bigger headlights or any other higher-current-draw accessories you want to add to your motorcycle.
+Here's how to do this. '''Currently unfinished.'''
 '''Sound link:''' [http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i307/gulley04/ninja%20250/?action=view&current=Hornupgrade.flv           FIAMM Freeway Blaster]