Bad boy horn

[rollin thunder]

Hey guys I am thinking of putting a Bad Boy horn on my max and was wondering if anyone here has one on their bike.Harbor freight has them for 33.00 with tax and 20% off coupon.

 

[donnelly317]

I had bought a similar on last year still have it... I can't find anywhere to fit it!!!

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[bazwell]

I can't find anywhere good to put my Stebel horn either.
Keep us up to date with this horn, and how you go!

 

[donnelly317]

I can't find anywhere good to put my Stebel horn either.
Keep us up to date with this horn, and how you go!

Yea I think thats the one I got.... from europe??

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[bazwell]

Yea I think thats the one I got.... from europe??

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I think so.

The Bad Boy horn is a copy of the Stebel.
I was just looking at the Harbour Freight site, and it says the BadBoy can be split in half, and you can mount the compressor and horns separately. That would make it easier to fit! I thought about that with the Stebel, but haven't tried pulling it apart.

 

[bazwell]

They can be pulled apart! Woohoo! (Both brands)

http://www.ex-500.com/wiki/index.php?title=Stebel_or_Wolo_Air_Horn_Install

 

[Fire-medic]

I put mine on the right side, inside the "V" which took a bit of fitting w/a piece of aluminum L-angle. I relieved one edge of the angle-iron to fit the circumference of a segment of the round compressor, to bring it in tighter. The angle secures w/two 6 mm allen-head machine screws which held the VBoost chrome cover in-place, I think they were about 40 mm long. I had to make a couple of 7/8" spacers for the mounting screws on the backside of the angle-iron, to space the bracket out a bit. I used a scrap piece of steel tubing. I ran some jumpers from the original horn connections. Be sure to use the relay, the horn is better w/it. You can get a wire kit from WOLO for a few $ more, fused wire & enough to make it work.

I first fitted it to the left "V," but switched it when I realized I lost easy access to the carb idle thumbscrew. No rework of the bracket was needed.

I since painted it satin black to match the engine. I am going to 'swiss-cheese' it to lighten its visual load. I just haven't gotten-around to it. If you wanted-to, you could inscribe it w/"VMax," "V-four," "DOHC," or something. Or cut it out like that.

 

[rollin thunder]

Nice job .I like the way you tucked that in there.

 

[rollin thunder]

I have mine mounted near the old horn location and I may move it to where yours is .Can I get that angle aluminum at Home depot and I am not using the relay as of right now .Why is it better to use the relay?.

 

[Fire-medic]

I have mine mounted near the old horn location and I may move it to where yours is .Can I get that angle aluminum at Home depot and I am not using the relay as of right now .Why is it better to use the relay?.

The relay allows the horn to access full 12 volts & sufficient amps w/the size wire it needs to power the compressor properly. The Stebel wire kit costs about $10 & includes a water resistant fuse case to wire directly to your battery & then to the relay. The relay allows the switching to occur in the relay w/contacts rated to take care of the current flow the horn compressor requires. The horn switch on your handlebar doesn't have the capacity or the contacts to allow long-term use of the horn w/the compressor current draw. Sure, you may get it to work, but it's like trying to fill a bathtub with a syringe, You can do it, but it isn't gonna do it as-quickly as you want, or in-case of the horn, with the necessary current supplied to the compressor to allow it to produce the volume and pressure it needs. Think of sucking water from a glass w/ a straw or w/a 12" length of 3/4 " garden hose. Which one is going to fill your mouth quicker? Electricity passes more-easily through a larger conductor, and the compressor draws a lot of current. The relay allows the compressor to draw the needed current, the stock wires to the OEM horn merely activate the relay to pass the current from the lead connected directly from the battery to the relay and then from the relay to the compressor. That's the 3/4" garden hose circuit.

You probably can't get the same angle iron in aluminum I used because mine is thicker than what they carry at Home Depot, but sure, it should work, even if you put some holes in it like I did. Just don't go crazy w/the holes, and remember that to tuck it in, you will need to grind-away a segment of the horizontal piece in a semi-circle to allow the compressor body to tuck-in tighter. You also will need some small-dia. tubing to make a couple of ~1" spacers to slip-over the 6 mm X 1.0 machine screws that go into the fuel system threaded holes which hold the (removed) chrome vanity covers. The spacers go on the back-side of the bracket to space it away from the carb synch nipples. A guy w/a TIG capacity could cut some bar stock & weld-up something less-massive than my idea. I used what I had on-hand. I often go to the scrap yards looking for some material for use in something like this.

 

[rollin thunder]

Wow!!,Great answer.I did notice the horn works better with the motor running with the stock wiring.

 

[Redbone]

Even a stock horn would benefit from having a relay, but it would just be a louder MEAP instead of the regular meap. My brother installed the ~$15 replacement auto horn from Advanced Auto (LINK) and it was a car sounding horn, much louder than my stock horn. I'm not sure how water-resistant it is as his was mounted under the fairing on his FZ-1. I guess you could always put a Outerwears cover on it and seal the connections with liquid tape.

 

[rollin thunder]

I tuned on the headlights and checked the volts across the batt.and got 11.9 then checked at the horn wires and got 10.9 so i guess I am losing a volt with the stock wiring but I am sure with the bike running it would be more with help ,from the alternator.

 

[CrackerRican]

I mounted my stebel where the stock horn was, with an L bracket between the down pipes

 

[Fire-medic]

I mounted my stebel where the stock horn was, with an L bracket between the down pipes

I wanted to eliminate the ambient heat as the WOLO is plastic for the horn volute, though the compressor looks to-be potmetal, so I ruled-out the 'between-the-exhausts' location. That was my first thought to try something there, before I bought my horn, and quickly-abandoned it when I got the WOLO and trial-fitted it. Besides, I'm trying to make my bike more-like a Harley (note the horn position), which is why I remove a couple of spark plug leads before I ride it around.:biglaugh:



Yours looks good there, though, a clean machine, too.

 

[rollin thunder]

Checked volts at the horn wires today with the motor not running and the lights on 11.0volts and with the bike running 12.8 .So I learned always try your new horns with the bike running to ,get the real sound of the horn duh .Guess I had a brain fart when i did this project.

 

[rollin thunder]

I took back the Bad boy horn today and bought the fake chrome plastic dual electric horns for 9.99 .They weight alot less and used the existing wire terminals to one horn and I jumped two more wires to the second horn right next to it.With a 20% off coupon I paid 8.63 out the door and these horns are loud!!!!! and ,look like i spent alot more $ for them .

 

[VMAX NV]

Just bought a Bad Boy from Harbour Freight. Post some more pics of where you guys mounted it.

 

[Fire-medic]

Don't forget to use the relay! It makes a huge difference.

I discarded the butch boy logo cartoon on-top of the compressor. Depending on the look you want, a black rattle-can touch-up could make the install be less-obvious, or you could do a tuning-fork stickie, or some other adornment to-taste.