Over the past few months, I have handed out this information as others have found out about my air horns, and decided to install their own. Instead of dealing with it on a case by case basis, I have decided to post my notes here.
Here it is. Enjoy!
One trumpet each will mount under the crash bar covers. The compressor will mount under the seat above the fuel filter/fuel pump area, clamped to the bar that the seat bolts to, and the relay will mount with an 8/24 bolt just to the left of the center rear attachment for the fuel tank. There is a hole there that is unused that works fine.
"Tupperware" removal:
Start by removing the seat, both front crash bar covers, all handlebar plastic, top shelter cover, and the left hand side cover.
Wiring:
First, find the wire that runs from the horn switch to the stock Honda "beep-beep" horn. Disconnect it from the horn and pull the wire backwards towards you, so that it comes completely back up through the handlebars. Now, take it and re-route in along the left side frame and run it backwards so that the new destination of it will be under the driver's seat. (Remember to use cable ties to secure it and run it in some sort of loom to protect it. Be very careful how you route the wire as it leaves the handlebars, as you don't want to do anything that could cause loss of control of the bike. There are a couple of bundles that leave the handlebars on my bike on the left hand side, so I consolidated this horn wire with those.) It will have to be extended with another piece of automotive wire so that it will reach. Cut off the female spade end (that used to plug to the horn) and butt splice on a 2 foot piece of 16 gauge automotive wire. (This will be cut to length later and a female spade end added to attach to the relay.)
On the right hand side under the seat is the starter relay switch. This is directly fed from the battery. The one lug covered with the red plastic boot is where we will grab our power for the relay. Take a forked terminal (big enough to fit the lug), a fused link with 14 gauge wire (and a 15 amp fuse), and a 1 foot piece of 14 gauge wire and assemble end to end. Put the terminal under the lug and tighten, then route the wire over towards the area where we will put the relay (just to the right of the compressor). (Again, use cable ties and wire loom to protect the wire from damage). This will also be cut to a proper length and a female spade end added later to attach this to the relay.
Mounting the trumpets:
On my kit, I placed the smaller trumpet on the left side, and the longer on the right side. The left side trumpet is aimed sideways (i.e. pointed towards the exhaust pipe) and downward. The right side trumpet is aimed forward and downward. On the right side, I took my soldering iron to melt and remove a small area of the trumpet "flare" to get it farther away from the exhaust pipe. I then used cable ties to hold it and make sure that it stayed away from the exhaust pipe. (I will scan sketches of this and add to my website). I also had to melt two slots in the mounting area (these are all plastic) of the larger trumpet to get it to mount on a crash bar that ran parallel with the trumpet.
I used standard "skinny" stainless steel hose clamps to mount these. I say "skinny" because there are two different band widths of hose clamps in the smaller sized clamps. The width of the band on the ones I had to use were skinnier than usual, which was necessary. (I will add a measurement of the width of the two later).
Installing the Tubing:
Run the air horn tubing back towards the compressor area, using cable ties to attach as you go. Be sure not to make too tight of bends in the tubing, since it collapses/kinks rather easily. Use the Y connector provided to get them back to one hose for connection to the compressor. You will have to buy extra tubing at the hardware store along with the clamps. I bought 10 feet extra and didn't have much left over!.
Mounting the Relay:
The relay mounts in a hole near the rear mounting bolt for the fuel tank. There is one on both the left and right hand sides. I used the one on the left side. Cut all of the wires that run to the relay to length and crimp on the female spade ends. Wire up the relay using the feed from the switch (to activate the relay), the feed from the starter relay (to power the compressor), and a ground (this can be eliminated with a relay with a metal case). I ran the ground to the closest seat mounting bolt. For the final connection at the relay, make a feed to the compressor using 14 gauge wire. Put a female spade connector on the relay end and attach. Make the wire long enough to reach over to the compressor.
Mounting the Compressor:
Mount the compressor in the area above the fuel pump, attaching it with a clamp to the bar that the seat bolts to. Make sure that this location will allow re-installation of the seat. I had to tilt the top of my compressor slightly forward (i.e. towards the handlebars) at an angle to allow this. Cut the feed to the compressor (from the relay) to length and crimp on a female spade end and attach (again using loom to protect the wire). Make and run a ground with a female spade on one end and a ring terminal on the other to same place the relay ground is. Cut the air hose from the trumpets to length and attach to the compressor.
At this point, the horns should be operational, using the stock Honda horn button to activate them. If you wish, the now useless stock horn can be removed by simply unbolting it from its mounting bracket.
Page last updated on May 1, 2001