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I've been wanting to get a loud horn for my bike. I am very ignorant when it comes to electricity, but I asked a friend and he said most truck or boat horns are 15 amps while most motorcycle batteries are only 12 amps, so it wouldnt work. I'm having a hard time searching for horns by amps, I only see volts and am trying to learn the difference... I know the amps are the measurement of flow through the wire, but I can't find any horns citing their amp output, only their voltage?
If most trumpet style horns are drawing 15 amps, the battery for a 440 with the highest amps I can find is the http://www.atbatt.com/product/24413/motorcycle/kawasaki/kz440-all-440cc-80-83/battery at 14 amps
Anyone have any advice? I know I'm probably missing something really stupid.
I was reading an article http://www.kz400.com/Techh%20tips%20bilder/Tech%20filer/40.jpg that recommended replacing the ignition coils with high performance coils. Where can I find more information about doing so? Would this help me out at all? I know someone wrote an article on rewiring something on the kz440s to get a better ignition but can't find it at the moment... When I find that I'll bother you guys more on newb matters. Until then I'm going to try to find something to help me learn electricity basics better.
To start with, a battery is not rated by "amps." It is rated by amp/hours. A 14 amp/hour battery will sustain 14 amps for an hour, or one amp for 14 hours. (That isn't entirely accurate, but you get the idea.) I think the rating is actually based on a 10 hour discharge, so for rating purposes, it would be 1.4 Amps for 10 hours. (Faster discharge it will generally fall short.)
Another rating that batteries have is "cold cranking amps." CCA is how much current the battery can supply briefly for engine starting at a low temperature. A 14 A/h battery will have a CCA of maybe 150 A. I think that will be adequate for blowing a horn.
To install a more powerful horn, you have to have a relay to get full power to it. You can't run that much power through the handlebar horn circuit, so that circuit is used to activate a relay, which supplies current to the horn via heavier gauge wire.
As for more powerful ignition... Why do you want to fuck with something that is working just fine? You admitted that you have challenges with the electrical stuff, so if it ain't broke, don't try to break it! The "improvement" would be so marginal that you probably wouldn't even be able to feel the difference. Heck, a dyno might not even show a difference. Save your money and your angst on something that will actually make a difference or go get a lap dance.
Agree. I had a Nautilus on my SV650 and it was unbelievably loud. And quite compact for the amount of sound it puts out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuakT7YK0kU&feature=related
Your buddy doesn't grasp it much better than you... and AlphaDog is spot on with the Battery A/H rating.
Problem is, You are comparing apples and oranges. How often so you blow the horn with the bike not running and using only battery amperage? If for some reason you would, it would only be for a short blast.
The bikes charging system is capable of much more. Take a look at the size of the fuses. 20 or even 30 amps in the starter circut. My GoldWing has a 30 A fuse to handle the starter load with a 18A/H battery. You need to be more concerned with the size of the wire / switch / fuse in the circut is capable of handling the amount af amperage needed. Which is exactly why the relay is needed. Think of a relay as a remote opperated switch. A set of contacts inside the relay is drawn closed by a small magnetic coil using low amperage controlled from the handle bar mounted switch with it's small gauge wire. The higher amperage needed for the starter motor (or your horn) is wired with heavyer gauge to those contacts and more power then can pass through them and opperate the higher load on the system.
Been trying to google to see if anyone has a project where they explained installing a relay like you're telling me without luck. I did however find this for installing accessories on a BMW. Would I be doing the exact same thing or would I need to use different gauged wires and a different kind of relay to do the horn on my bike?
http://www.r1200gs.info/howto/relay.html
Dude, you're over thinking it. As for the wire, I really can't see a horn requiring anything more than 12-14awg wire. You can run freakin 0awg wire if you want. But, it's about as big around as your middle finger. Just use whatever the installation instruction say. I drew up a diagram to show you all that you need to do. Admittedly, I did steal the relay drawing from another source and changed it for you. It's dead simple. Don't be intimidated by it. You can get the relay at Radio Shack for like 5-6 bucks. Just place the relay and wiring somewhere hidden and out of the way of any moving parts or anything that gets really hot, and neatly secure it all with some zip ties. Under the seat is a good spot.
Or, you can just get the Stebel Nautilus and be done with it. If all you want is a loud horn, it's that simple. But, if you're just wanting a big trumpet hanging off your bike, mount that bastard and wire it up... Easy day.
Very cool, that makes it easy to understand--its hard not to over think things when you're ignorant. Maybe I'll pick up a couple of those relays and do this too:
http://www.armbell.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10087&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&mforum=kz400
Yep, just put on any horn you want and power it through a relay. You're looking for the "standard Bosch" SPDT relay. You can find one at any auto parts store for under $10:
Run a big wire (12+ AWG) from the battery to the horn (through the relay). Then attach the horn wire to the relay. When the horn button is pressed, the big wires in the relay will be connected, and the horn will kill all deer in the area.
As it turns out, this is also the simplest way to get brighter headlights with no additional drain on your system. It never hurts to have a few relays on hand.
Maybe I'll pick up a couple of those relays and do this too:
http://www.armbell.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10087&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&mforum=kz400
I bought all the supplies I needed to wire the horn once I figure out which one I want-- I wanted to do this mod yesterday since these bikes always have a hard time starting cold. I removed the gas tank and started cutting free the wires to see which I would replace. Unlike the mod on the page I linked, I'm not planning on putting in a relay since I have electronic ignition, so just a 12ga wire with a 10a inline fuse. I traced the wires to the coils, but where do I cut the wire? it's almost as if it's connected directly to the coil.... Don't know if you can see it that well from this pic... I kind of assumed there would be something to disconnect the wire from the coil instead of being hardwired. Where should I cut and solder?
I'm confused and likely will stay that way for a while, but I don't understand the relationship between the type of ignition and whether you'd use a relay for the horn, or why you're disconnecting coils.
The relay is to allow the horn to draw as many amps as it needs, without the worry of frying your horn button. Normally the horn button is on the same line as the horn itself, and is subjected to whatever load the horn draws. A 'big' horn like a Stebel etc. will likely draw more amps than you want flowing through the switch, hence the relay.
The relay is exactly the same idea as your starter solenoid. The horn button just triggers the electromagnetic switch inside the relay, connecting the horn directly to the battery to suck as much juice as it wants. Regardless of electronic ignition, a relay is a good idea.
It's actually a totally seperate topic. A lot of people rewire the coils on the KZ440s in effort for a stronger start... I'm following the link I posted before regarding the coil mod, only the one in the link adds a relay since it is a points system opposed to electronic ign. Here's the link....
http://www.armbell.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10087&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&mforum=kz400
That's why I asked where to cut/resolder in a new wire... I figured there would be some sort of connect on the coil itself but it looks like the wire is hardwired or goes into the coil.... Should I remove the coil to rewire?
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