Article [13] ST1300 - Dual Fiamm Freeway Blasters

Sabre

Pr?t? Allez!
Joined
May 19, 2011
Messages
54
Location
North of Seattle
Bike
'04 ST1300
I'm kind of a safety Boy Scout. I always upgrade the horns on all my bikes, and I use the Freeway Blasters (both high and low tones) whenever possible. They are LOUD (132 dB), they sound great, they're durable (unlike certain miniature air horns), and they're hilariously inexpensive! Plus, it's always an interesting challenge mounting them.

I put one of them where the OEM horn goes, and fabbed a little bracket extension so that the business end of the Fiamm is right up against the cutouts in the bodywork. Here it is when first installed...



...and here it is from the rear with the inner fairing panel in place. You can see the little "L" bracket I made that places it in just the right place.



A view from the front with the panel in place.



That wasn't bad at all, but where to put the other horn? It seemed that an easy position would be just above the other one. Here you can see it mounted just inside where the right mirror housing attaches.



Here's the second horn from below. You can see how the opening will project down and forward. It's pretty open down through the bottom of this fairing where the forks are.



This last one shows both horns in position. I used a small relay from Eastern Beaver that tucks up right next to the upper horn. The OEM horn wire triggers the relay, and power comes from a dedicated circuit off a new power distribution center in the right fairing pocket.



I did a bunch of other mods at the same time, including heated grips, several Powerlet sockets for heated gear, and some killer LED driving lamps; see the various threads in the appropriate "Farkles" section. I'm extremely pleased with the results of this little project. I sound like a '68 Buick on steroids.
 

ST Gui

240Robert
Site Supporter
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
9,262
Location
SF-Oakland CA
Bike
ST1300, 2010
I unbolted the factory meep from the bracket and replaced it with the low-tone Fiamm, and use the factory horn button/circuit since it's only the one horn.

I like where you've mounted the horn on the inside of the mirror bracket area. I'll do that and add the relay. Great pics, by the way.
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
929
Age
63
Location
Louisiana
Bike
2019 GL1800
STOC #
8659
I want to know how it sounds, I had read somewhere that the mounting bracket the horns come with act as a sound tuner and modifyiying will effect the sound considerably. I am about to mount Fiamm twins and I am curious about this---Thanks.
 

T_C

Joined
Mar 8, 2012
Messages
4,341
Location
St. Louis, MO
Bike
2005 St1300
STOC #
8568
Actually you can mount both Fiamms right where the original horn was. Use the little tab brackets they gave ya with the horns. Put one in front of the original location chrome side away from bike, then put the other behind the original location, chrome side towards bike. I think I have a picture at home.

The mounting bracket for the Fiamms is not a tuner.. they sound liek your grandma's Buick no matter how you set 'em.
 
Joined
Aug 28, 2012
Messages
22
Location
Lancaster, PA - U.S.
Bike
2017 Yamaha FZ-10
I just completed my dual horn upgrade and I am very pleased with the final results. I used Rubber insulated steel straps to mount my horns and the rubber provides some vibration dampening.



The existing strut which the oem horn was attached to is approxiamtely 1/2" diameter. While the horn straps are mounted directly on top of each other the straps swivel enough either direction to allow for access to wires and components behind and specifically the radiator cap directly below the rearward horn. Additionally the low tone horn is to the rear and the high tone is almost directly above the oem slots in the inner cowl. High frequencies are more directional, and my thought was the low tone will penetrate the plastic and roll out of the front slots and side openings. I decided to locate the dedicated relay at the horns so I didn't have to run wires from the oem horn wires to a more rearward location and still have to provide power through the relay up to the new horns. This way, only had to run a fused power wire, from my Aux fuse box under the pillion seat and I also routed a ground wire from the horns to the ground connections under the upper gas tank, where the tank and seat meet.

I have additional pictures in my Farkles album.






Enjoy,
Barry
 

90210brandon

Be a Zero
Joined
Oct 3, 2013
Messages
101
Location
Vancouver
Bike
07 Silver ST13
STOC #
8998
Sorry for sounding ignorant but why use the relay? I just bought this horn and the instructions don't say anything about use a relay. I am confused. :confused:
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,111
Location
Cleveland
Bike
2010 ST1300
Sorry for sounding ignorant but why use the relay? I just bought this horn and the instructions don't say anything about use a relay. I am confused. :confused:
The relay is nothing more than an electrically activated switch. It draws very little current but the contacts inside can switch a greater load without damage. The original horn had a very small electrical load - maybe a couple of amps. The Fiamms draw more current and may not sound properly if this is not supplied. When you use a dedicated circuit and large enough wires (look how small the wires to the OEM horn were) the Fiamms will get all the juice they need. The horn switch on the handlebars will probably not pass sufficient current directly to the new horns without damage, so we use this horn switch to activate the relay which then sends sufficient current to the horns from the new circuit. Does this help?
 

90210brandon

Be a Zero
Joined
Oct 3, 2013
Messages
101
Location
Vancouver
Bike
07 Silver ST13
STOC #
8998
Does this help?
More than you know. That clears it up completely, for me! Thank you!

If I only used one horn, do you believe I need a relay still?...I suppose I can just try it...right?
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 27, 2004
Messages
829
Location
Medina, Tennessee
Bike
2021 Tracer 9GT
STOC #
375
More that you know. That clears it up completely, for me! Thank you!

If I only used one horn, do you believe I need a relay still?...I suppose I can just try it...right?
You are not really acomplishing much only using one Fiamm horn be it either high or low tone. They are designed to work in harmony with the resulting sound waves giving greater audible range. Don't ask me to explain the science of all of it but I did read this somewhere other than the internet many years ago! My experience with dual hi/lo Fiamms on three STs and one VFR (disk type hi/lo Fiamms)supports this. I always use a separate fused 14 ga lead from the battery or a distribution block through a relay triggered by the stock horn wires.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,111
Location
Cleveland
Bike
2010 ST1300
More that you know. That clears it up completely, for me! Thank you!

If I only used one horn, do you believe I need a relay still?...I suppose I can just try it...right?
I can't answer this because I don't know the current draw of one of your horns. Bottom line is that Honda engineered their wiring harness for the loads imposed by FACTORY equipment, not the farkles that we all add later. Since they are aiming the bike for a specific market, cost of components is important and they will design a switch to carry the design load and order a zillion of them (so called OEM parts - original equipment manufacture). Of course, sometimes they buy existing standard components if they are cheaper but my point is that Honda (or any manufacturer) will not spend more than is absolutely necessary to accomplish the task at hand.

There are a lot of horns out there - see the recent MCN article comparing horns (there is a link somewhere on this website to it) and some draw more current than others. You might get away with one horn and no relay, but then you run into the problem that JMCarruth pointed out. In the end, it is far cheaper to replace a relay (cost anywhere from 3 bucks and up) than Honda's factory horn switch on the handlebar. And, while there are literally millions of these standard relays out there, there may be only several tens of thousands of Honda horn switches made. Six years from now you might find the horn switch is obsolete but you can buy dozens of relay replacements.
 

ST Gui

240Robert
Site Supporter
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
9,262
Location
SF-Oakland CA
Bike
ST1300, 2010
You are not really acomplishing much only using one Fiamm horn be it either high or low tone.
I don't agree. Even a single high or low FIAMM is markedly louder than the meep-meeper. True that installing both gives the real bang for the buck but if you only have a chance to get one on do it now and add the second and a relay when you can get to it.


I can't answer this
I can. You can install one FIAMM in place of the stock horn no problem. I've done this in most of my bikes and never ever had a problem. I had the plastic off for another reason so I threw the low tone (my preference) in place of the stocker. Nice improvement. But if you're going to pull the plastic just for the purpose of adding FIAMMs I'd say wait until you have a relay and some heavy wire and do both at once. Job done.

The relay is needed because the two FIAMMs together draw enough juice to burn up your horn button/switch in short order while one is not an issue. A good standard accessory/auto relay (Bosch?) and some 14ga wire will do the trick. I wired my supply lead directly to the battery in other bikes. If you're going to add farkles down the road a distribution block might be a good idea.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,111
Location
Cleveland
Bike
2010 ST1300
I wired my supply lead directly to the battery in other bikes. If you're going to add farkles down the road a distribution block might be a good idea.
Distribution block - An auxiliary fuse box is a good idea. Look at eastern beaver's website (cleverly, easternbeaver.com ) and see what he has. A 30 amp feed to the fusebox is plenty for most accessories you will add. I'm only pointing this out because you should have things fused. There are a lot of other vendors selling these - some offer more circuits and some fewer. I installed the eastern beaver fusebox w/ the 30 amp feed last winter, and installed circuits for powerlets, aux lights, and my twin horns.
 

90210brandon

Be a Zero
Joined
Oct 3, 2013
Messages
101
Location
Vancouver
Bike
07 Silver ST13
STOC #
8998
I unbolted the factory meep from the bracket and replaced it with the low-tone Fiamm, and use the factory horn button/circuit since it's only the one horn.

I like where you've mounted the horn on the inside of the mirror bracket area. I'll do that and add the relay. Great pics, by the way.
I just installed one horn and it went very smoothly.P1040653.jpg
 
Joined
Aug 28, 2012
Messages
22
Location
Lancaster, PA - U.S.
Bike
2017 Yamaha FZ-10
Without putting an ampere meter on the oem horn it is hard to say what the difference is between the oem and a single high or low Fiamm/Rider/etc. From some of the posts here it looks like you can get away with 1 of the 2. What I can tell you what did not work, well... for long, on my 2004 Suzuki Intruder LC 1500. I installed a Bad Boy (Wolo) Air Horn simply replacing the factory horn. Even though the package included a 15 Amp relay, I thought it wouldn't matter since the horn is usually only activated for very short intervals, honk honk.... Wellll... it worked fine until I really hit for more then a quick press/release... 15/20 seconds then the contacts in the switch became crispy and did not make any electrical contact. Having a degree in electronics, I should have known better, and did but thought I could get away without the extra work of adding the dedicated relay and power and ground wire. All of which I ended up doing. Fortunately the contacts in the switch cleaned up and no permanent damage was done.
That experience shaped my path forward on the ST. The package with the dual Riders (Harbor Freight) came with a 15 amp relay and I went and did it correct from the beginning. I wanted to be able to stay on the horn as long as I felt necessary without having to worry about burning up switch/wire/relay. I was also installing a dual 12 Cigarette/dual usb port outlet in the right pocket so I was running wires anyway. I think I have some pics in my photo album.
 
Top Bottom