[Ecanup1]

Has anyone upgraded the LiveWire horn to one that can actually be heard from more than two feet away? H-D doesn’t offer one that I can see, but there are a number of generic aftermarket options that could probably be made to work. I’d love to know if someone has already made the upgrade, what they used, and how they like it.

 

[Frank]

Has anyone upgraded the Live Wire horn to one that can actually be heard from more than two feet away? H-D doesn’t offer one that I can see, but there are a number of generic aftermarket options that could probably be made to work. I’d love to know if someone has already made the upgrade, what they used, and how they like it.

I purchased the split version of the Denali Sound Bomb, mounted the horn to the door of the 12v battery facing down, and mounted the compressor vertically on a custom fabricated bracket - in a pocket near the seat release. I had it wired up to the horn button etc. by the HD dealership LW specialist. There is a caveat - It works great in short bursts - super loud like a 16 wheeler truck horn and I believe it has saved me more than once on PCH. However, it has a 20amp draw so if I lay on the horn for a full second, it trips a circuit (Bike is fine but the horn is dead) and I need to restart the bike to get it going again . I have been trying to find a solution through the dealership so it can handle the 20 amps. Maybe someone out there will read this and let me know if the have a solution. HD will not respond formally to customers regarding aftermarket non-HD accessory issues. I know there are other horns, but they may have amperage issues as well.

 

[BHigerd]

Frank,
When time allows can you post pics? The stock horn does suck.

 

[Frank]

Frank,
When time allows can you post pics? The stock horn does suck.

I will take pics soonest possible and will post here.

 

[Menoche]

One trick I used to do on my bikes is to unscrew the vibrating panel 1/4 to 1/2 turn and stick some blueloctite to hold it in place. Basically you unscrew to give it a bit of slack and it lowers the tone of the horn So you can adjust like you want it.

 

[BHigerd]

One trick I used to do on my bikes is to unscrew the vibrating panel 1/4 to 1/2 turn and stick some blueloctite to hold it in place. Basically you unscrew to give it a bit of slack and it lowers the tone of the horn So you can adjust like you want it.

So the "vibrating panel" is the part of the horn that attaches the horn to the bike? I have blue loctite! I have a screwdriver! And dang it, I want a horn someone bigger than a cat might hear.

 

[Menoche]

You have to play with bolt identified as 3 in this diagram:

 

[BHigerd]

Thanks man! I have to try that.

 

[Frank]

Frank,
When time allows can you post pics? The stock horn does suck.

Mounting location of compressor

I fabricated a bracket to mount the compressor. you can see the nut near the orange wires.

The horn is mounted to the 12V battery door, easy still to get the door and the horn off. The compressed air tube is routed directly down from the compressor to this location.

I just noticed the debris in this shot - forgive the mess after the last ride. This shot is looking up from the ground. I was able to mount it while allowing all the vents etc. to remain open. The horn is clear of the kick stand and is not the lowest part of the bike - other components hand lower. The horn faces down and forward and sound reflects from the ground and distributes forward and to the sides.

 

[Shah]

Thank you for sharing this! This is all incredibly helpful.

How did you fabricate the bracket to mount the compressor? Did you use a 3D printer?

-shah

Mounting location of compressor
View attachment 774
I fabricated a bracket to mount the compressor. you can see the nut near the orange wires.

View attachment 775
View attachment 776
The horn is mounted to the 12V battery door, easy still to get the door and the horn off. The compressed air tube is routed directly down from the compressor to this location.
View attachment 777
I just noticed the debris in this shot - forgive the mess after the last ride. This shot is looking up from the ground. I was able to mount it while allowing all the vents etc. to remain open. The horn is clear of the kick stand and is not the lowest part of the bike - other components hand lower. The horn faces down and forward and sound reflects from the ground and distributes forward and to the sides.

View attachment 778