Topic: Where does the horn actually touch ground?

[dgilling]

My horn was working fine, then i had to remove my controls to troubleshoot my headlight.  Now the horn won't work and it's a grounding issue.  I can remove the horn button assembly and connect it to ground and then the horn works.  However when assembled in the control it doesn't work.  Where does it actually get it's connection to ground?  It has to be through that screw some how but I don't see a wire coming in for it to touch???

[mystic_1]

The button grounds via the switch pod housing, which is grounded to the handlebars.

mystic_1

[dgilling]

So the bigger metal piece that hold most of the wires down on the bottom half, touches the handle bar, and the handle bar touches the triple tree? I guess the powder coat on my new handlebars is messing up the ground or I had that bolt/plate tighten too tight and there wasn't contact.   

[mystic_1]

It's actually the little locating pin inside the pod that normally sits in a locating hole drilled into the bars next to the slot for the cabling, that provides the ground.

Powder coated bars will definitely interfere with proper grounding.

mystic_1

[MickB]

 When does the horn actually touch ground? When you drop the bike.

[madmtnmotors]

So the bigger metal piece that hold most of the wires down on the bottom half, touches the handle bar, and the handle bar touches the triple tree? I guess the powder coat on my new handlebars is messing up the ground or I had that bolt/plate tighten too tight and there wasn't contact.

Yes, remove the powder coat where the housing contacts the bar. Powder coating disrupts the grounding (as you've suspected).

AND where the bar clamps to the top tree!

[dgilling]

It's actually the little locating pin inside the pod that normally sits in a locating hole drilled into the bars next to the slot for the cabling, that provides the ground.

Powder coated bars will definitely interfere with proper grounding.

mystic_1

Where is this locating pin you speak of? 

[mystic_1]

Inside the switch housing, in the lower half, there should be a brass-looking pin sticking up.

Visible here just to the left and below the leftmost phillips screw:


Alternate view:


mystic_1

[madmtnmotors]

Only the earlier models used the locating pin. It would align with a hole in the bars and prevent the switch assembly from rotating if it happened to loosen up a little. The later K7/K8/F2/F3 did not use this pin, which I happen to prefer since I can rotate the switch housing to my preferred location (I guess you could drill another hole if you had the pin style). The horn button simply grounds through the housing to the bars. The bars are then supposed to be grounded through their connection to the top tree at the handlebar clamps.

[PeWe]

Or add an additional ground wire that connect the switch housing to the top tree. I removed my locating pin, the hole for it might be Ok for a screw holding a ground wire. (New control from VintageCB750 bought 2012)
My ground connection might been weak. Chromed bar but no pin. Horn button could control a relay that activate the A hungry dual snail horn. No relay only some clicking sounds.

[dgilling]

Sounds, good.  I think i'll probably pull a ground from the clutch switch wire.  It will be easy to add something to that. 

[dgilling]

Here's my work around so I don't have to worry about any contact issues.  I borrowed the clutch switch ground connection.

solder extra wire to green ground on clutch switch


Probably not as clean, but this works just fine and you can't see the wire when the levers are in turned down correctly. 

[PeWe]

It look good, as it was designed that way!