The shockwave is the newest horn from Screaming Banshee. It’s smaller, lighter, cheaper, and most importantly, louder!
I’ve had very loud horns on my motorcycles and cars before. They were kind of frustrating since they only had one sound: crazy loud. One of the things I like about the shockwave is how it has two loudness modes. The first with a quick tap is normal 100db, but with a long press it is the full 123db! Nice to say “hi” and another to say “look out!”.
It was easy to install this horn on my SV650 and it is MUCH louder than the stock. I ended up putting it on the left side of the engine since there isn’t room above the fender in the stock location.
These are the tools I used to install the horn on my SV650.
- Socket wrench with extension
- 4mm hex head
- 6mm hex head
- Philips screwdriver
- 14mm wrench
- pliers
- wire cutters
- blue loctite
- 2 small zip ties and 2 large zip ties
- includes affiliate links to support the blog
The contents of the Shockwave box. The horn itself, connecting wires, connectors, and mounting hardware. My box included an extra mounting bracket shown on the left.
Here is a close-up of the back of the horn with the dipswitches for changing the function of the horn and the 25amp fuse.
1) Remove the side panels with the 4mm hex
2) Remove the two seat bolts with the 6mm hex
3) Disconnect the battery with the Philips screwdriver
4) With the 6mm hex, remove this bolt on the left side of the frame.
5) Crimp the round connector onto the black ground wire.
6) Put the ground wire on the inside of the bolt and horn mount, so it connects to the raw metal of the frame.
7) Use the short mounting bracket and the blue loctite.
8) Put the mounting bolt and washers on the other end using loctite again. Tighten the bolt in the frame.
9) Mount the horn on the bolt and make sure there is a gap between the horn and the engine. Tighten with the 14mm wrench.
10) Attach the wiring harness to the back of the horn.
11) Crimp the flat connectors onto the end of the blue wires.
12) Route the blue wires around the frame and radiator to the front of the bike where the stock horn is plugged in. Detach the wires from the stock horn and connect to the new blue wires.
13) Crimp the other round connector onto the red wire. Route the red wire along the frame back to the battery.
14) Connect the red wire to the battery and tighten. Reconnect the negative side of the battery.
15) Reattach the seat and side panels.
16) Use the zip ties to secure the cables to the bike. I attached mine to the frame.
17) Test your new horn and use it wisely!
The total install time was less than 20 minutes. It was one of the easiest mods to my SV yet.
While I received this horn as a demo unit in exchange for this post, I liked it so much I bought another one.
Get your horn at: https://screaming-banshee.com/
Until July 20, 2016, there is also a Kickstarter going at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/846667950/shockwave-the-first-smart-motorcycle-warning-syste
