I'm working on converting my wife's 86 200SX and my '00 XR600R dirt bike for dual sporting and have a problem getting the horn wired right on the dirt bike because it has no battery. I bought a small horn made for a bike and wired it up to the headlight which was factory installed. Neither the horn or the horn switch are connected directly to ground but use the ground wire on the headlight as well as the hot wire on the headlight for power. When I started my bike there was not enough power to run the horn at idle. If I revved it up just a little, the horn sounded like a choked chicken but still not very loud and got no better at higher rpm. Is there a better way to connect my horn? I don't think wiring to the ignition is a good idea and I'd rather not have to add more wires to the stator if I don't have to but I'd rather do that than add a battery. As it is, I'm certain I'd never pass my street inspection. Is there any other wiring circuit on a XR600R besides the ignition and the lights?? I know this is not an ATV but I'm hoping someone has the knowledge I need and it may help getting the 200SX wired right also. Any help is appreciated. Thanks. Max

 

I had to make my Warrior street legal in order to ride trails in the Coconino up here. Why don't you just forget about the electric horn & buy a bicycle bulb horn as I did. It passed MVD inspection & I was issued a motorcycle tag on the spot.
BTW, in case you don't already know,being "street legal" is only the first step in obtaining a license plate, which is really what street legal is. The other requirements being a mirror, lic. plate light/stop light, and proof of insurance

 

MaxAz, Been there done that. First of all, if you bike or quad have no battery then the power that the horn is getting is going to be AC. You need DC to operate your typical motorcycle horn. One hint about those horns; if you adjust the tightness of the bolt in the center it has a big effect on the volume and pitch of the horn. Still, you need DC power regardless. You could build a simple half-wave bridge rectifier and electrolytic capacitor circuit for the horn to convert your AC to DC but I would just try the bicycle bulb horn. I use the bulb horn in Wyoming and it is legal.

 

You probably got your inspection done awhile back. They are requiring electric horns now that can be heard at 200 feet. Otherwise, I'd set it up like you did. I've already got the mirrors and lights taken care of. This is the last step.

 

I guess if it's AC then it would make sense that the horn doesn't work. I always thought the voltage was already rectified though. My brake/tail & headlamps work fine and those bulbs are DC aren't they? Max

 

I don't know when that regulation took effect but I had mine inspected in April of this year.

 

We use a battery-operated bicycle horn on our Dual-Sport motorcycles. It's loud enough to pass the requirements here in Oregon, and it uses a 9volt battery. You can get them from Performance Bike. I think their website is performancebike.com.

 

WyoRider, if I wire up a rectifier circuit for the horn, do I need to isolate the DC from the AC or can I have a common ground like the ground wire for the headlamp?

 

Max I would go easy on that horn since you are drawing so much current from the stator (that wasn't designed for that) and might fry the stator wires. Go to www.rickystator.com and look up their battery assist for the Banshee. This is your best bet for horn.

 

Actually, incandescent light bulbs work just fine with AC or DC; they are not specific to one or the other.

I never thought about the grounding but yes, it probably would have to be isolated. That makes it a bit more difficult...

Like somebody mentioned, a battery operated horn sounds like it would be the ticket.

As somebody else mentioned, those horns do suck a LOT of current.