Got a weird horn problem
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 1,144
Likes: 950
From: Port Saint Lucie, FL
Got a weird horn problem
It's sounded like a sick cow since taking ownership and a bud suggested that maybe it's water in the snail but he reached under and told me to hit the horn while he tried to wiggle the connectors and while he got shocked for his efforts? At one point during the wiggling the horn sounded great and we deduced it was just a case of dirty connections so today I decided to fix my horn problem by removing it and cleaning the connections which I did and it sounded great so I remounted it and got the same sick cow chit again then repeated it all for the same results.
I'm at a loss. WTH am I missing here?
I'm at a loss. WTH am I missing here?
Road Master
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 822
Likes: 488
From: LA Ca.
If your horn is solid mounted to the frame or whatever, that could be the problem. Many horns, but I don't think all, need to be mounted to a strip of metal, usually 3 or 4 thin strips together, to allow it to vibrate a little. Also if the horn is pushing against something, even mounted on a strip of metal, that can cause it to not work right.
I have seen horns that the mounting stud looks like it's set in a rubber bushing, others just metal to metal. I would think the rubber bushing one may not need a strip of metal?
Hope this helps,
Tom
I have seen horns that the mounting stud looks like it's set in a rubber bushing, others just metal to metal. I would think the rubber bushing one may not need a strip of metal?
Hope this helps,
Tom
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 1,144
Likes: 950
From: Port Saint Lucie, FL
If your horn is solid mounted to the frame or whatever, that could be the problem. Many horns, but I don't think all, need to be mounted to a strip of metal, usually 3 or 4 thin strips together, to allow it to vibrate a little. Also if the horn is pushing against something, even mounted on a strip of metal, that can cause it to not work right.
I have seen horns that the mounting stud looks like it's set in a rubber bushing, others just metal to metal. I would think the rubber bushing one may not need a strip of metal?
Hope this helps,
Tom
I have seen horns that the mounting stud looks like it's set in a rubber bushing, others just metal to metal. I would think the rubber bushing one may not need a strip of metal?
Hope this helps,
Tom
The norn blows great right up until the cap nut gets finger snug. As soon as the cap nut even starts to tighten up? The sick cow tone begins.
Road Master
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 822
Likes: 488
From: LA Ca.
From what you mentioned about tightening the nut, I would think that "maybe" the rubber is shot from age. We are playing with the 2020 right? Not likely bad that soon.
Just as a test. Can you fit a nut on the mounting stud just off of the rubber and still get the stud through the mount and the cap nut on? Just curious if this will allow it to vibrate and work????
Tom
Just as a test. Can you fit a nut on the mounting stud just off of the rubber and still get the stud through the mount and the cap nut on? Just curious if this will allow it to vibrate and work????
Tom
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 1,144
Likes: 950
From: Port Saint Lucie, FL
From what you mentioned about tightening the nut, I would think that "maybe" the rubber is shot from age. We are playing with the 2020 right? Not likely bad that soon.
Just as a test. Can you fit a nut on the mounting stud just off of the rubber and still get the stud through the mount and the cap nut on? Just curious if this will allow it to vibrate and work????
Tom
Just as a test. Can you fit a nut on the mounting stud just off of the rubber and still get the stud through the mount and the cap nut on? Just curious if this will allow it to vibrate and work????
Tom
Edit: Tried that. No luck.
Last edited by JINKSTER; Nov 18, 2023 at 03:59 PM.
Road Master
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 822
Likes: 488
From: LA Ca.
Not clear, your tried that, did a nut not fit, or it didn't help?
I did a quick look at some links that show up at the bottom of a page. Someone had a similar issue. He was able to replace the rubber bushing and all was well. Just a thought??
Tom
I did a quick look at some links that show up at the bottom of a page. Someone had a similar issue. He was able to replace the rubber bushing and all was well. Just a thought??
Tom
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,118
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From: Directly above the center of the Earth
Horn on my '09 Super Glide did this. I got sick and tired of it and didn't think it was loud enough anyway, so went looking for a different, louder, kind of horn. I looked at the air-horn types, but just too much crap and wiring just for a horn that's not that much louder than a stock horn. Then one day, I thought 'Hey...I don't hardly ever put that damned old '86 Dodge Ram D100 on the road and *never* use the horn on it...I wonder what it looks like and how loud it is.'
So, I walked over to the old truck (I used to use it for mainly farm work and hauling logs to split for firewood) popped the hood and looked in the engine compartment and hey...the damn thing is almost the same looking as an H-D horn. I got in the cab and hit the horn button and whoa!...the thing is *LOUD* compared to my stock H-D horn.
Got a few tools and yanked the horn from the Dodge out and put it on the Super Glide. That was 8 +/- years ago and after the '09 died on me, it went onto the '98 Super Glide I got, then when the cager t-boned me in May of 2021 and messed my left leg up and ruined the bike, I got a '97 Heritage Classic and the horn is on *this* bike now. Still louder than ever and still too big for that stupid chrome cover! LOL! Besides, I don't care about looks, never have. Hell, I don't like windshields either, never have, and when I got this bike having had to drive to Durham, NC from W TN (it was almost 800 miles one way), I stopped in some town just after getting out of the Smokey Mtns., got a cheap couple of wrenches and yanked it off and leaned it against the building next to the entrance to the Lowes I got the tools from so whoever wanted it, could have it, for free.
Anyway, point is, think outside the box for maybe a new, or another or different horn.
So, I walked over to the old truck (I used to use it for mainly farm work and hauling logs to split for firewood) popped the hood and looked in the engine compartment and hey...the damn thing is almost the same looking as an H-D horn. I got in the cab and hit the horn button and whoa!...the thing is *LOUD* compared to my stock H-D horn.
Got a few tools and yanked the horn from the Dodge out and put it on the Super Glide. That was 8 +/- years ago and after the '09 died on me, it went onto the '98 Super Glide I got, then when the cager t-boned me in May of 2021 and messed my left leg up and ruined the bike, I got a '97 Heritage Classic and the horn is on *this* bike now. Still louder than ever and still too big for that stupid chrome cover! LOL! Besides, I don't care about looks, never have. Hell, I don't like windshields either, never have, and when I got this bike having had to drive to Durham, NC from W TN (it was almost 800 miles one way), I stopped in some town just after getting out of the Smokey Mtns., got a cheap couple of wrenches and yanked it off and leaned it against the building next to the entrance to the Lowes I got the tools from so whoever wanted it, could have it, for free.
Anyway, point is, think outside the box for maybe a new, or another or different horn.
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