Horn Placement






VStar Horn

Moving the Vstar 1300 horn to a spot behind the

Left "fake" cover.

Steven Low, KB9QFT

 

parts required ? (one  short 1/4 inch bolt or metric
equivalent,  flat washer & locknut)

Begin by removing the seat. Insert the key into the lock in
the side panel.

Turn the lock and lift the front of the seat then pull it
forward to remove.

 

  The gas tank will not need to be removed completely.

It will need to be moved about.  Remove the two bolts
indicated by the yellow arrows..

Slide the tank back two to three inches and you will feel the
front of the tank slip from the

two rubber front mounts. Moving the tank a little one way or
the other will be necessary

as you re-route the wiring for the horn. I also used needle
nose pliers to release the wire

holder (just to the right of the forward most bolt) from the bracket.

 


  Remove the single bolt which is holding the "fake" cover in place.

There are two rubber grommets with posts at the top backside
of the

cover.  Pull firmly outward at the top of the cover to
remove it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This is what you will now see.  The two rubber grommets are

indicated by the black arrows.  They are designed to have
the cover

pulled firmly for release.

 

The yellow arrow indicates the bracket on which we will

mount the horn.  I recommend drilling a 1/4 inch hole

in the bracket at a point  right in the corner indicated
by

the arrow.

Place a rag behind the bracket to avoid accidentally striking
the

drill bit on the cylinder heads.

 

 

 

 

  Remove the two wires from the back side of the horn.

Use needle nose pliers to gently pry the connections

free.

 

 

 

 

  Remove the single bolt indicated by the yellow arrow to

release the horn.

 

 

 

 

  This picture shows one of the two holders for the
wiring which

leads to the horn and the brake switch at the rear brake
pedal.

Open them both  by gently prying apart the two sections
with your finger

in the slot indicated by the arrow. 

 

 

 
This is the upper holder in its open position.

 

 

 

 

 

  Remove the front bolt from the frame inserts (both right and
left sides)

which lie just in front of the gas tank. You can see the bolt

hole in the insert in the picture to the left.

Leave the rear "bolt" in place. They are not really

bolts at all but are push in connections which may

not survive being removed.

Clip the wire ties which are along the

right down tube which are holding the horn wiring.

One which is indicated by the yellow arrow in

this picture.

 

 

 

 

 
  I found it necessary to remove the wire tie shown here

also.  Difficult to show where it is but it is beneath
the right

frame insert, near the back of that insert, and as you can see goes

through that little hole. I did not replace this wire
tie.

 

 

 
  Re-route the wire for the horn up over the front

cylinder mount. I had to route it  by inserting

a length of stiff wire through from the back side

and above the front cylinder, taping the horn wire

 to it and pulling it back through.

 

  Wire tie the horn wiring to the bracket as indicated

by the arrow.  Inspect that the horn wire runs

as high as possible up under the tank.  I wouldn't

let the wire lie slack enough to droop down and lie

on top of the cylinder itself but it seemed to me

that it was going to stay high of any hot areas.

An option would be to cover the portion of the wiring

running over the cylinder area with heat resistant

material.  Connect the wiring to the horn and test it.

 

 

 As they say, re-assembly is the opposite of disassembly.  
Be sure to wire tie the rear brake pedal wiring as it

was and close the plastic brackets also used to hold it in
place.Re-connect the wire holder bracket at the rear

of the gas tank if you popped that loose.   I will
probably leave the "old" horn bracket intact.  It is probably

unnoticeable to those not looking for it.