'06 Magnum blaster installation

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mindtrip

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Okay, this seems pretty simplistic, but as no one has posted any pics yet of a successful magnum blaster install on an '06, I thought I'd show how I did it.

I tried initially using the stock horn brackets, but found that these kept the larger magnum blaster horns too far up. The problem with that is that as you turn the forks, the fork sliders bump against the horns; there is no 'wiggle room'. I then tried using one of the metal strips that came with the new horns, but found it to be 1) too flimsy and 2) too thin; the allen bolt that holds the stock bracket on required a thicker bracket than one of the strips that came with the new horn, as it would bottom out in its threads while the bracket was swinging loosely. But the horns come with two strips, and I found that both strips together seemed to be thick enough and sturdy enough to hold:

start%20small.jpg


So I tried putting the horn in with a straight bracket. Now the horn was lower and had clearance away from the fork slider tube--unless the forks were in full turn and being simultaneously compressed. Now if I'm riding the bike and the forks are at a full turn and I'm hitting something with enough force or velocity to compress the forks, I figured I had a more serious problem than the horns hitting the forks :D but I wanted to get them out of the way so they didn't whack while pushing the bike around the garage, etc. I thought of zip-tying, or other ways to pull the horn away from the fork, and then in typical Homer Simpson fashion decided to bend the strips

bent%20small.jpg


A bend of about that much seemed to hold the horn back against the outsides of the radiator, helping to stick some of that horn girth in functional dead space. Bending the bracket gave this amount of clearance:

Right and Left Sides from above

right%20above%20small.jpg
Left%20above%20small.jpg


The cyan arrows point to the fork dust seals, and the yellow arrows point to the horn bodies. With this amount of clearance you can pump the forks in a full turn either direction and never touch the horns.

To get the 'trumpet' end of the horn out of the way of the forks, I had to mount the horn such that the electrical connectors on the horn were pretty much right in front of the mounting brackets. Thus, I bent the connectors up so I could slide the FJRandy harness connections on.

Final install looks like this:

Front%20small.jpg
left%20small.jpg
right%20small.jpg


No dremelling of horn or fairing required, and cost me nothing more than the money I'd already spent on horns and harness. Like I said, pretty simplistic and nothing to write home about, but it gets the job done. Thanks Randy, the harness works great. I might suggest adding some length to the blade connectors that go to the factory harness; I couldn't get the old ones out from under the battery without taking off the fairing. I decided it wasn't worth it. I was able to manipulate your harness around enough to make the connection with the factory harness without putting strain on the wires, but it would help if they were a bit longer, maybe 1-2".

Cheers!

 
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This is cool! I think this is the first substantial illustrated farkle contribution to the board. This is the kind of stuff I (and I'm sure others) will be looking forward to as '06 owners get to work on their bikes.

Good on 'ya Mindtrip for the contribution. Your kharma jumped further into the positive. :yahoo:

 
Thanks Randy, the harness works great. I might suggest adding some length to the blade connectors that go to the factory harness; I couldn't get the old ones out from under the battery without taking off the fairing. I decided it wasn't worth it. I was able to manipulate your harness around enough to make the connection with the factory harness without putting strain on the wires, but it would help if they were a bit longer, maybe 1-2".
Cheers!
Thanks for the heads up. I'll make that length longer on the next batch for '06's. You did this install WITHOUT removing any fairing pieces? Wow. Ususally everyone I've talked to said it was much easier to remove the lower fairings just to see better what you're doing. And I know how you feel about cutting the inner panels, but you probably would've gotten a lot more room to move them outward. Seems like the fairing around the '06 radiator is more "bowed" than previous years.

 
mindtrip-
Where did you hide the relay???
Sorry, I should have put a pic of that in! I tucked it under the upper right fairing panel, the one that has the knob for adjusting the right headlamp. I looked at a few different places around there for it, and found that it seemed best to go UNDER the metal frame that holds the windshield sliding rail. I stuck a long ziptie provided by Randy around this frame and through the relay, and left a little slack in it so ithe relay could push in if needed when I re-installed the fairing panel. I figured the relay isn't heavy and isn't really going to put any strain on the wiring, I just wanted something to keep it from falling down at the wrong moment.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll make that length longer on the next batch for '06's. You did this install WITHOUT removing any fairing pieces? Wow. Ususally everyone I've talked to said it was much easier to remove the lower fairings just to see better what you're doing. And I know how you feel about cutting the inner panels, but you probably would've gotten a lot more room to move them outward. Seems like the fairing around the '06 radiator is more "bowed" than previous years.
I *hate* doing any work I don't have to, as I am ultimately a lazy bastard. :D I started to pull the fairing panels off, but then realized I didn't need to when I realized that it was plenty of work to remove the fairing as well. The inner fairing panels do have a fairly large-diameter bow molded into them, presumably for the old horns, but the new horns tuck into that fairly well. And yes, I really didn't want to cut any fairing panels, but would have if I absolutely needed to; however, I don't even *own* a dremmel :blink: so that would have required me 1) going to a friend's house to borrow one, or 2) going to the store. Both of these would have required work, and for clarification please re-read the first sentence of this reply. :lol: So when I figured out a way to do it without having to go anywhere or buy anything, that seemed the easiest solution.

 
Great Job!!! :clapping: :clapping: This mod is something everyone should do as they get time. I too will make this mod on my '05 as well as some other things.

Thanks for sharing.

 
This was the first farkle I did on my 04 and it get's used alot in the LA traffic, stupid cagers on phones. :angrysmiley: I would suggest all 06 owners to get this farkle done right away!

By the way mindtrip a nice writeup.

 
Mindtrip,

My horns just came in the mail this AM so your write up is going to come in handy in the near future. Thanks for taking the time.

 
As an update:

I did 500 miles this weekend, much of it in the rain (I hate the midwest!), ranging in speeds from 70mph up to 110mph (when not raining!). Checked the horns when I got home, no movement in the brackets or loosening of the bolts. I didn't use loc-tite; didn't think about it until I had the allen bolts on and just decided to crank 'em down and say 'screw it', but they seem to have held just fine. Though as always, I'd recommend using a bit of loc-tite for piece of mind. The BLUE pill, not the RED pill! Whoops, matrix reference, I mean the blue loc-tite, not the red stuff. :D

 
I went to Pep Boys and bought the Fiamm Freeway blasters, which are very similar to the Magnum Blasters, and installed them on the OEM brackets with no modifications. The only problem I had was that the studs on the backs of the horns werent quite long enough to use the OEM washers. I had to use a thinner washer on them to get the nuts to thread on. I'll try to post some photos, but they look real similar to the photos shown above. I put the relay behind the right side inner panel next to the right side horn.

I did this the day after I brought the bike home. Those wimpy OEM horns aren't loud enough to wake up Cell Phone Suzy in her minivan.

 
As an update:
I did 500 miles this weekend, much of it in the rain (I hate the midwest!), ranging in speeds from 70mph up to 110mph (when not raining!). Checked the horns when I got home, no movement in the brackets or loosening of the bolts. I didn't use loc-tite; didn't think about it until I had the allen bolts on and just decided to crank 'em down and say 'screw it', but they seem to have held just fine. Though as always, I'd recommend using a bit of loc-tite for piece of mind. The BLUE pill, not the RED pill! Whoops, matrix reference, I mean the blue loc-tite, not the red stuff. :D
I resemble that.(Matrix) And look forward to doing this install. Also, would like to do a radiator screen under the guard someday. Been getting alot of bugs collecting in there and are not easy to remove. Thanks for the great install illustration. PM. <>< :D

 
Got my Fiamm "Freeway Blasters" at O'Riely's yesterday for $14.99 ea.

Fred - What kind of relay did you use and are there any wiring tricks one should know? Was really hoping

you would have some pictures posted over night :clapping: . Oh, one other question, did you take anything

apart in the horn areas for your install?

Thanks,

Fjrtn

 
Sorry, I was busy on another project last night.

The wiring is pretty simple. You need a lead from the + battery to the relay contact for power and then wire the other side of the contact to one side of the horns. The other horn contacts goes to ground or back to the negative batttery teminal. You can use the existing horn wires for the relay control signals.

There is a good wire drawing of the connections here:

https://www.fjrtech.com/getdbitem.cfm?item=46

As for a relay, I just picked one up at the auto parts store that was intended for fog lights. It even came with a nice plug in type multi-pin spade connector. They are pretty easy to find, just go ask any auto parts store if they have a 12 volt relay for fog lights. Any relay rated at 20 amps or higher should be sufficent.

 
I mentioned this in another thread, but just in case you missed that one...

You can get the Stebel TM-80 Magnum Blaster horns, just like Mindtrip installed, from "Horns Plus Auto" for only $18.95 a pair...

Here's the link: https://www.hornsplusauto.com/

Just FYI...

Dallara

 
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I mentioned this in another thread, but just in case you missed that one...
You can get the Stebel TM-80 Magnum Blaster horns, just like Mindtrip installed, from "Horns Plus Auto" for only $18.95 a pair...

Here's the link: https://www.hornsplusauto.com/

Just FYI...

Dallara
That's where I got mine. I think that I paid a total of ~$24 with shipping. Pretty cheap, VERY loud (louder than the FIAM's, I've been told).

 
VERY loud (louder than the FIAM's, I've been told).

Nope. NOT louder...only a different type of sound. Stebel lists 138dB @4" OR 110dB @1 meter. Fiamm output is the same at 1 meter.

I'd like to know who REALLY measures their horn output at FOUR INCHES??? when I did my testing, I did it at 10'. Both brands were just about 100dB @10'.

 
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