a horn (if you already have a battery for lights)

One little thing- car horns use so much electricity that with much use, they will start to discharge the battery of a car....and just think how much more energy is stored by a car battery than what we can carry on bikes.
 
Actually I have one of these on a trike plant bike that I used to use at work, pre-golf cart days. I powered it with a 12V SLA, 10AH battery and I was surprised how much use I got from a charge. In a warehouse environment where horns are used constantly by forklifts and other vehicles I wanted something unique so I put the Ahhhh-ooo-Gaaa horn on my trike. I would charge it once a week and used the horn probably ten times more than a biker would need it. Of course the battery didn't share the load with lights but unless you do a lot of after dark riding Jason's horn would probably work just fine. You need to consider weight however. My horn weighs about 2 pounds.
Tom
 
hmm, I didn't think they'd use that much power. It's not like I would use it all that often, but still...

Might have to go back to the drawing board on that one. I don't want a squeeze-bulb horn or anything....
 
jasonh said:
hmm, I didn't think they'd use that much power. It's not like I would use it all that often, but still...

Might have to go back to the drawing board on that one. I don't want a squeeze-bulb horn or anything....
Click to expand...

Jason,

Houghmade is right, these horns draw amps...BIG TIME. But if you save it for emergencies, (alerting a car to your presence), it'll probably work out just fine.

Jim
 
2door said:
Actually I have one of these on a trike plant bike that I used to use at work, pre-golf cart days. I powered it with a 12V SLA, 10AH battery and I was surprised how much use I got from a charge. In a warehouse environment where horns are used constantly by forklifts and other vehicles I wanted something unique so I put the Ahhhh-ooo-Gaaa horn on my trike. I would charge it once a week and used the horn probably ten times more than a biker would need it. Of course the battery didn't share the load with lights but unless you do a lot of after dark riding Jason's horn would probably work just fine. You need to consider weight however. My horn weighs about 2 pounds.
Tom
Click to expand...

Tom: I missed your post before I sent mine...I will add, (as an assumption), that you may have had a quality U.S., or Japan/taiwan made horn. The latest Wang Chung, (China), electrical items always seem to be power hogs?

Either way I'm sure Jason can use this when truly needed without depleting the battery on any given bike run.

Jim
 
I'll bet today's modern car horns are more efficient than "back in the day".
A horn shouldn't really use much juice. If you're not trying to pump out low frequencies, very high decible levels can be made with only a few watts.

BTW, here's an x-tra loud Harbor Freight horn:
Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

My brother is a freight train mechanic for Canadian National (used to be Illinois Central) railroad. I asked if he could get me a scrap piece of exhaust gasket material for my bike engine. He gave me a piece about 4" x 8", enough for half a dozen gaskets (train parts are big), and it was the baddest gasket material I ever saw. It consisted of layers of teflon bonded to thin stainless steel. No fun to cut. I had to use my Dremel tool with little cutting disks. But I can take my muffler on and off a thousand times and that gasket won't leak a bit.
Oh, I got off topic a bit. I thought about trains because their horns are so incredibly loud. My brother told me that they don't joke around with blowing those horns indoors because they can ruin someone's hearing instantly.

On a lighter note, could you put a semi-truck air horn on a bike and power it with a CO2 cartridge?
 
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At my local bike shops they have these air horns that mounts on the handle bars and has an air tube going to an air bottle held by the water bottle cage. You can refill the air bottle and get many many uses with a full charge. It is LOUD to.

Found it here, - Midtown Bike Company - Memphis, TN
 
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