Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles


*    >I didn't want to be the first to mention this, I figured there must be
*    >something wrong with me.  I finally found a great source of Fiamms in
*    >the San Francisco Bay Area (Kragen Auto), but was quite disappointed.
*    >I only have room for one horn (even that was tough to fit) on my DR350S,
*    >so maybe two makes all the difference.  I figured that since I was 
*    >replacing my singe stock (disk) horn that *anything* would be much better.
*    >Not so.  It has more authority (lower and more truck-like), but the
*    >volume is damn near the same (I tested this with a friend walking down
*    >the block while I alternated.)  Since the Fiamm is twice the weight,
*    >twice the size twice the current draw and cost *much* more than the one
*    >that came free :^] with my DR, I'm not as impressed as I thought I'd be 
*    >after all the glowing testimonials.
*
*    Well, I put both Fiamms in and they _are_ louder than the stock horn, by
*    quite a bit.  However, they're not impressive.  They sound like a normal
*    car horn now, not like a big rig from hell.  The improvement is simply
*    because the stock horn sounds like VW bug, so the Fiamms could only be
*    better.

I have two horns on my XT350, which should have about the same amount
of space as a DR350S.  I mounted them on the lower triple clamp, one on
each side, in front of the forks.  I had to weld up some brackets, but
they work great.  On this particular bike the horns are off of an old
Plymouth ($5 each at any junk yard).  A good relay is another $5.  With
lots of 12 gauge wiring, fittings, and a fuse you should be on the road
for $20.  

The Plymouth horns sound like a car of course, the Fiamms that most 
people have been refering to are a higher pitch.  The seem to be
about the same volume but the sound is more attention getting, harsher
and more unique.  Maybe the Fiamms sold in auto parts stores are lower
pitch units than the ones sold in motorcycles shops.  I really like
the Fiamms on my Seca 750, but I didn't want to pay that much for
horns on a DP bike that might get thrashed offroad.  Anyway most new
cars come with pathetic horns these too, so even a set of junkyard
car horns (from the good old days) is a good choice.  I painted mine
black and they look pretty good.

Several people have mentioned that heavy wiring is important, and I 
will say it again.  Use heavy (at least 14 gauge, I recommend 12 gauge)
WITH A FUSE (20 or 30 amps) direct to the battery.  When mounting horns
on the forks be aware that Japanese bikes (I can't speak for any others)
don't ground the forks.  All electrical stuff mounted on the forks has
a ground wire that disappears into the wiring harness.  I grounded my
forks direct to the battery with another 12 gauge wire so that I wasn't
running 10 amps through the headset bearings-I don't know or want to
know what type of electrolysis/electroplating that might cause.  Also
on kick start bikes like DR350s the main battery leads and grounds are
pathetic.  You must run heavy wires for GROUND AND +12V to the battery.
This WILL make a difference in the horn volume, prevent blown fuses,  
burned wiring, and other problems.

Frank Ball   1UR-M          frankb@hpsad.sad.hp.com
Hewlett Packard   
1212 Valley House Drive     (707) 794-4168 work  (707) 538-3693 home
Rohnert Park CA 94928-4999  KC6WUG Seca 750 XT350 IT175 DoD#7566 I'm the NRA.
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles