New to the forum. Great resource. Just purchased an '05 Electra Glide Classic with 18K miles on it. The horn does not work. Need it for inspection sticker, and other obvious reasons. Switch location is obvious. Where is the actual horn? Any ideas as to the problem? Thanks

 

If it's not working, how about upgrading it to a air horn? Much louder sound, and you'll scare the bejezeers out of the inspector when he hits the button to boot

I upgraded to the minibeast 2 and love it. Much better than the quacking stock horn, and actually works unlike the HD air horn.

 

Many times with the horn just needs a cleaning and tighten the connections, try this first unless wish to replace it ..

 

Look at Jay's 09. Its behind that tear shaped chrome cover between the cylinders

 

Its on the left side between the cylinders. Where the Eagle is.

 

The horn is on the left side of the motor under the tank. Mine did not work either at one time. I checked for power and I was good. So I guy I work with told me there was an adjustment screw on the back. Sure enough took the chrome cover off, played with the screw and it has worked ever since.

On the horn itself there is a phillips screw (might be covered with a plastic plug or sealant). I would give that a try. Good Luck!

 

I'd check to see if the switch activates the current to the horn. If it does, the issue is with the horn itself. If not, you know to look at the switch, fuse, etc.

 

Thanks for the posts everyone. Air horns are cool. With 2 kids in college, though, I'm stuck with stock for a while.

I tried to remove the chrome cover last night, by removing the phillips screw at the top. It wouldn't come off. Am I missing a screw or other step somewhere? And what will I get into if I start with the switch. Novice mechanic, but not afraid to turn a wrench (or screw driver as the case may be).

 

opening the handcontrols can be a pita test for power at the horn first,its almost always the horn.

 

The horn assembly is usually attached via an acorn nut (not a phillips screw) that applies pressure against the base bracket of the horn at the top and further against a rubber bushing. I suppose it's possible that the previous owner has made some kind of mod and now you have a phillips screw there....dunno.

The guys have given you good advice. Remove the entire horn assembly, then take your volt ohm meter (you do have one, don't you?) and check the voltage to the two wires feeding the terminals of the horn (remove them from the horn first, they slide off but you might have to use some side to side motion to get them to loosen). Of course, you will need to have the ignition switch on and the horn button depressed to check to see if voltage is making it to the horn. If no voltage, then check the fuse first to see if it has blown. If it has not blown, then it could be the switch. So you might need to take apart the switch housing and check the switch body and internal wiring condition. Of course if you do have voltage at the two wires feeding the horn, then the problem is in the horn itself.

You can try messing around with the horn to get it to work, but sometimes they just die. You can easily replace the horn, cheaply, by going to an autoparts place such as Autozone, Napa, Advance Auto, Carquest, etc. These places carry horns made by Fiamme. They are similar in size to the stock harley horn. They make a high tone and a low tone model,with the intention that both will be installed to give you a nice "car like" horn sound when blown together. This is what I have on my bike, but that's another story. Anyway, you can get one of these horns, and I would suggest the high tone horn, and it's a direct bolt-on replacement for the stock HD horn. I think they are around $15 each. They are sometimes called the "Highway Blaster" or something similar. Your wiring from the old horn will attach directly to the spade terminals on the new horn. Do not worry about polarity on the horn when you re-attach the wires to the spade terminals on the horn. By the way, I suggest the high tone because that tone frequency will penetrate and be heard more readily than the low tone version when using one or the other by itself.

Hope this gives you some ideas. Glad to hear you are not afraid to turn a wrench. Get yourself a service manual for this bike and buy quality tools to include a torque wrench or two, you will be glad you did.