Hating the horn button

[Sweeps]

Wondering if anyone has installed a different left handlebar switch for the horn, lights and turn signals. The inability to easily and effectively locate the horn button rather than hitting the turn signals has me really missing the excellent design of the Honda CB500X lineup. Wondering if we can swap out our stock signal cluster for a Honda cluster? Thoughts? Photos of your solution?? Thanks

[redbeard]

I was also thinking its be nice to have a different switch panel thingy for the left side. Sat on a bunch of bikes at the bike show a couple weeks ago and every other bike I sat on the horn was in a VERY easy place to access without adjusting your grip on the bar.

[Guest 2wheeler]

So my belief on how the horn button placement got so screwed up is that some freak of nature designed the cluster to get revenge on the world because he/she was born with monster thumbs or grossly jointed hands 8D
 
 
....or they are a closet hater of motorcycles who just happens to work for Yamaha, and secretly wants to kill us all off.
 
 
Any other ideas?
 

[chademinent]

So my belief on how the horn button placement got so screwed up is that some freak of nature designed the cluster to get revenge on the world because he/she was born with monster thumbs or grossly jointed hands 8D  
 
....or they are a closet hater of motorcycles who just happens to work for Yamaha, and secretly wants to kill us all off.
 
 
Any other ideas?

Agreed

[sansnombre]

I had an idea of re-routing the horn button wires to the high-flash switch on the other side. So you'd use your index finger to sound the horn instead of the thumb. Haven't opened it up to take a look to see if feasable, but should be. Not ideal, but I played with it a while and I think it'd be a better solution once your got used to it. And I never use the button for the original use anyway. Pending . . .

[chademinent]

I had an idea of re-routing the horn button wires to the high-flash switch on the other side. So you'd use your index finger to sound the horn instead of the thumb. Haven't opened it up to take a look to see if feasable, but should be. Not ideal, but I played with it a while and I think it'd be a better solution once your got used to it. And I never use the button for the original use anyway. Pending . . .

Not a bad idea.  I rarely use the horn because of its location and my small circus hands, even the turn signal switch gives me a hard time when im wearing my leather gloves.

[redbeard]

So my belief on how the horn button placement got so screwed up is that some freak of nature designed the cluster to get revenge on the world because he/she was born with monster thumbs or grossly jointed hands 8D  
 
....or they are a closet hater of motorcycles who just happens to work for Yamaha, and secretly wants to kill us all off.
 
 
Any other ideas?

 
 
What's wrong with the cluster?

[chademinent]

Im sure he is referring to the left hand controls as the cluster

[Guest 2wheeler]

Im sure he is referring to the left hand controls as the cluster

Yep, I used cluster for the left hand controls - there is a second word that works well right after "cluster" which describes it better  

[reboot]

Strange...my horn button is on the right hand side. When I use it I get a very loud "Braap" that seems to make people move. Jokes aside the horn button is in such a bad place. I have toyed with relocating it,just have not sat down with it yet.

[bigdaddybane]

So my belief on how the horn button placement got so screwed up is that some freak of nature designed the cluster to get revenge on the world because he/she was born with monster thumbs or grossly jointed hands 8D  
 
....or they are a closet hater of motorcycles who just happens to work for Yamaha, and secretly wants to kill us all off.
 
 
Any other ideas?

What's wrong with the cluster?

It's darn small and controls are jammed packed in there .... that horn button is stupidly small. If nothing else, Yamaha could paint it red, at least it could be visible. 

[SkH]

I've come to terms with the horn button after the realization that the horn is useless to me after 3 years of riding. I've used the horn twice and after long thought have come to the conclusion the only thing the horn is used for is to tell the other driver that they are morons which in the end usually has no effect.
 
Let me explain. If you use the horn when say someone is lane changing and about to hit you (happened to me, happens nearly every rider) there is a very slim chance they swerve back to their own lane. And you are not expecting them to swerve back into their lane. No, by this point you have already made a safety/reaction maneuver to save your own ass. Right? Right. At least, that's how it is always for me. So, in the end, the horn did nothing other than your complaint to the car driver.  And if by small chance they actually reacted and swerved back to their lane, it doesn't matter you first and foremost saved your ass first in anticipation.  I mean, let's hope you aren't one of those riders who use the horn and expect your life saved by the horn.  You aren't, right?
 
Now, the only other time I may have used the horn is when the car in front of you doesn't go when the light turns to green. A little toot. But I've come to find that I have become some type of douche and instead I rev my exhaust to get their attention.
 
So that pretty much shot down both of my usual horn usage and I've come to ignore the horn button.
 
Now, my wife on the other hand deserves the horn button and luckily for her it is placed on the regular area on her r3- she does this obnoxious thing, but overall it is a safe thing where she PREEMPTIVELY honks at cars on the right who may be coming out of an intersection or cars backing out from their driveway. Yes, she has done this many times, I get embarrassed riding with her when she does it but truthfully it serves its purpose. Now, if you do this as well, then you definitely deserve a better placed horn button.  If you have the stock exhaust, you also probably deserve a better horn button location.
 
But like I said, for me, the horn is completely useless as "safety/escape maneuver first" and exhaust revving is what takes precedence over my horn.  And that's how I feel about the FZ's bad horn placement.
 

[bigdaddybane]

I've come to terms with the horn button after the realization that the horn is useless to me after 3 years of riding. I've used the horn twice and after long thought have come to the conclusion the only thing the horn is used for is to tell the other driver that they are morons which in the end usually has no effect. 
Let me explain. If you use the horn when say someone is lane changing and about to hit you (happened to me, happens nearly every rider) there is a very slim chance they swerve back to their own lane. And you are not expecting them to swerve back into their lane. No, by this point you have already made a safety/reaction maneuver to save your own ass. Right? Right. At least, that's how it is always for me. So, in the end, the horn did nothing other than your complaint to the car driver.  And if by small chance they actually reacted and swerved back to their lane, it doesn't matter you first and foremost saved your ass first in anticipation.  I mean, let's hope you aren't one of those riders who use the horn and expect your life saved by the horn.  You aren't, right?
 
Now, the only other time I may have used the horn is when the car in front of you doesn't go when the light turns to green. A little toot. But I've come to find that I have become some type of douche and instead I rev my exhaust to get their attention.
 
So that pretty much shot down both of my usual horn usage and I've come to ignore the horn button.
 
Now, my wife on the other hand deserves the horn button and luckily for her it is placed on the regular area on her r3- she does this obnoxious thing, but overall it is a safe thing where she PREEMPTIVELY honks at cars on the right who may be coming out of an intersection or cars backing out from their driveway. Yes, she has done this many times, I get embarrassed riding with her when she does it but truthfully it serves its purpose. Now, if you do this as well, then you definitely deserve a better placed horn button.  If you have the stock exhaust, you also probably deserve a better horn button location.
 
But like I said, for me, the horn is completely useless as "safety/escape maneuver first" and exhaust revving is what takes precedence over my horn.  And that's how I feel about the FZ's bad horn placement.

I agree that motorcycle horn is not effective all the time but when used preemptively seems to be a way better option than relying on revving. Good luck with stock exhaust on that. I bought Denali Soundbomb Air Horn and this thing is one of the best additions I made. I can't care less if I scare some cagers, better stay safe out there.     

[Mr.Puss]

I had an idea of re-routing the horn button wires to the high-flash switch on the other side. So you'd use your index finger to sound the horn instead of the thumb. Haven't opened it up to take a look to see if feasable, but should be. Not ideal, but I played with it a while and I think it'd be a better solution once your got used to it. And I never use the button for the original use anyway. Pending . . .

Not a bad idea.  I rarely use the horn because of its location and my small circus hands, even the turn signal switch gives me a hard time when im wearing my leather gloves.

HAHA "small circus hands" (rofl)  

[Mr.Puss]

I've come to terms with the horn button after the realization that the horn is useless to me after 3 years of riding. I've used the horn twice and after long thought have come to the conclusion the only thing the horn is used for is to tell the other driver that they are morons which in the end usually has no effect. 
Let me explain. If you use the horn when say someone is lane changing and about to hit you (happened to me, happens nearly every rider) there is a very slim chance they swerve back to their own lane. And you are not expecting them to swerve back into their lane. No, by this point you have already made a safety/reaction maneuver to save your own ass. Right? Right. At least, that's how it is always for me. So, in the end, the horn did nothing other than your complaint to the car driver.  And if by small chance they actually reacted and swerved back to their lane, it doesn't matter you first and foremost saved your ass first in anticipation.  I mean, let's hope you aren't one of those riders who use the horn and expect your life saved by the horn.  You aren't, right?
 
Now, the only other time I may have used the horn is when the car in front of you doesn't go when the light turns to green. A little toot. But I've come to find that I have become some type of douche and instead I rev my exhaust to get their attention.
 
So that pretty much shot down both of my usual horn usage and I've come to ignore the horn button.
 
Now, my wife on the other hand deserves the horn button and luckily for her it is placed on the regular area on her r3- she does this obnoxious thing, but overall it is a safe thing where she PREEMPTIVELY honks at cars on the right who may be coming out of an intersection or cars backing out from their driveway. Yes, she has done this many times, I get embarrassed riding with her when she does it but truthfully it serves its purpose. Now, if you do this as well, then you definitely deserve a better placed horn button.  If you have the stock exhaust, you also probably deserve a better horn button location.
 
But like I said, for me, the horn is completely useless as "safety/escape maneuver first" and exhaust revving is what takes precedence over my horn.  And that's how I feel about the FZ's bad horn placement.

Personally I dont buy into the "loud pipes save lives" thing. IMO this was just started by HD douches trying to staunchly defend the use of their f'n obnoxious straight pipes at 3AM; cant encroach on that precious HD image after all. I remember an old boss/pal of mine getting all uppity about it and trying to force me to sign his stupid 'loud pipes' petition. I didn't sign.
 
In my experience I'd easily take my 135db air horn over any exhaust any day. I rarely find cause to use it but when I do it gets attention immediately and downtown when it reverberates among the buildings? Man, I can tell every last person turns and looks, especially the jackass in question.  Just as one example, I had a full van of idiots all literally jump out of their seats and immediately swerve out of the way after they'd just cut me off, something an exhaust just wont accomplish. People are guaranteed to move fast with this horn, it sounds like a cement truck barreling down. I dont use it as a "hello over there, please notice me over here" device. I see where your wife is coming from but situational awareness should take precedence over tooting everyone, I dunno, who am I to say, if that's her 'comfort' thing then hey by all means. I guess you get the job of politely waving to whoever your wife toots at? Haha.
 
IMO pissing around over revving to blast exhaust is potentially more dangerous than simply going for the horn. That power and control might not be available when needed. Obviously as you've mentioned, avoidance is first and I agree there's definitely a time and place for a blip of the exhaust for a bit more awareness but by no means is it my only go to for tight situations.
That said, I dont blame anyone who is still running that utterly useless OEM horn for feeling that exhaust does a better job of making cagers snap to because it undoubtedly does. That OEM horn though? You might as well be blowing a paper party horn. The button placement could be better but after getting used to the layout its not really an issue.
 
Ride safe you two. 8-)
 

[SkH]

I've come to terms with the horn button after the realization that the horn is useless to me after 3 years of riding. I've used the horn twice and after long thought have come to the conclusion the only thing the horn is used for is to tell the other driver that they are morons which in the end usually has no effect. 
Let me explain. If you use the horn when say someone is lane changing and about to hit you (happened to me, happens nearly every rider) there is a very slim chance they swerve back to their own lane. And you are not expecting them to swerve back into their lane. No, by this point you have already made a safety/reaction maneuver to save your own ass. Right? Right. At least, that's how it is always for me. So, in the end, the horn did nothing other than your complaint to the car driver.  And if by small chance they actually reacted and swerved back to their lane, it doesn't matter you first and foremost saved your ass first in anticipation.  I mean, let's hope you aren't one of those riders who use the horn and expect your life saved by the horn.  You aren't, right?
 
Now, the only other time I may have used the horn is when the car in front of you doesn't go when the light turns to green. A little toot. But I've come to find that I have become some type of douche and instead I rev my exhaust to get their attention.
 
So that pretty much shot down both of my usual horn usage and I've come to ignore the horn button.
 
Now, my wife on the other hand deserves the horn button and luckily for her it is placed on the regular area on her r3- she does this obnoxious thing, but overall it is a safe thing where she PREEMPTIVELY honks at cars on the right who may be coming out of an intersection or cars backing out from their driveway. Yes, she has done this many times, I get embarrassed riding with her when she does it but truthfully it serves its purpose. Now, if you do this as well, then you definitely deserve a better placed horn button.  If you have the stock exhaust, you also probably deserve a better horn button location.
 
But like I said, for me, the horn is completely useless as "safety/escape maneuver first" and exhaust revving is what takes precedence over my horn.  And that's how I feel about the FZ's bad horn placement.

Personally I dont buy into the "loud pipes save lives" thing. IMO this was just started by HD douches trying to staunchly defend the use of their f'n obnoxious straight pipes at 3AM; cant encroach on that precious HD image after all. I remember an old boss/pal of mine getting all uppity about it and trying to force me to sign his stupid 'loud pipes' petition. I didn't sign. 
In my experience I'd easily take my 135db air horn over any exhaust any day. I rarely find cause to use it but when I do it gets attention immediately and downtown when it reverberates among the buildings? Man, I can tell every last person turns and looks, especially the jackass in question.  Just as one example, I had a full van of idiots all literally jump out of their seats and immediately swerve out of the way after they'd just cut me off, something an exhaust just wont accomplish. People are guaranteed to move fast with this horn, it sounds like a cement truck barreling down. I dont use it as a "hello over there, please notice me over here" device. I see where your wife is coming from but situational awareness should take precedence over tooting everyone, I dunno, who am I to say, if that's her 'comfort' thing then hey by all means. I guess you get the job of politely waving to whoever your wife toots at? Haha.
 
IMO pissing around over revving to blast exhaust is potentially more dangerous than simply going for the horn. That power and control might not be available when needed. Obviously as you've mentioned, avoidance is first and I agree there's definitely a time and place for a blip of the exhaust for a bit more awareness but by no means is it my only go to for tight situations.
That said, I dont blame anyone who is still running that utterly useless OEM horn for feeling that exhaust does a better job of making cagers snap to because it undoubtedly does. That OEM horn though? You might as well be blowing a paper party horn. The button placement could be better but after getting used to the layout its not really an issue.
 
Ride safe you two. 8-)

I don't quite understand how your post related to mine- the only mention of using my exhaust was at a stop light when the car in front doesn't go when it turns green to let him know it is green.  Reread my post and no where in it do I suggest using the exhaust as a form of defensive riding.  I mentioned instead escape maneuvers over horn usage.
 
 

[phicurious86]

I took the horn off my Daytona last year around August, because I think out of 3+ year of riding I used the horn maybe twice and it was to express annoyance. Never thought of it as a safety feature.

[Mr.Puss]

Personally I dont buy into the "loud pipes save lives" thing. IMO this was just started by HD douches trying to staunchly defend the use of their f'n obnoxious straight pipes at 3AM; cant encroach on that precious HD image after all. I remember an old boss/pal of mine getting all uppity about it and trying to force me to sign his stupid 'loud pipes' petition. I didn't sign. 
In my experience I'd easily take my 135db air horn over any exhaust any day. I rarely find cause to use it but when I do it gets attention immediately and downtown when it reverberates among the buildings? Man, I can tell every last person turns and looks, especially the jackass in question.  Just as one example, I had a full van of idiots all literally jump out of their seats and immediately swerve out of the way after they'd just cut me off, something an exhaust just wont accomplish. People are guaranteed to move fast with this horn, it sounds like a cement truck barreling down. I dont use it as a "hello over there, please notice me over here" device. I see where your wife is coming from but situational awareness should take precedence over tooting everyone, I dunno, who am I to say, if that's her 'comfort' thing then hey by all means. I guess you get the job of politely waving to whoever your wife toots at? Haha.
 
IMO pissing around over revving to blast exhaust is potentially more dangerous than simply going for the horn. That power and control might not be available when needed. Obviously as you've mentioned, avoidance is first and I agree there's definitely a time and place for a blip of the exhaust for a bit more awareness but by no means is it my only go to for tight situations.
That said, I dont blame anyone who is still running that utterly useless OEM horn for feeling that exhaust does a better job of making cagers snap to because it undoubtedly does. That OEM horn though? You might as well be blowing a paper party horn. The button placement could be better but after getting used to the layout its not really an issue.
 
Ride safe you two. 8-)

I don't quite understand how your post related to mine- the only mention of using my exhaust was at a stop light when the car in front doesn't go when it turns green to let him know it is green.  Reread my post and no where in it do I suggest using the exhaust as a form of defensive riding.  I mentioned instead escape maneuvers over horn usage. 

I follow you, sorry @skeeterh not my intention to criticize or waggle a finger, you ride how you ride. I did see you mention the stop light example.  Your last paragraph in summation seemed to imply not bothering to use your horn and instead exhaust revving is what takes precedence over your horn. My point was I still find the horn quite valuable and place more emphasis on it than revving because I replaced that OEM p.o.s. with a freight train. I find my horn much more startling to dummies not paying attention. I misinterpreted a bit there, my bad.  As well, there's nothing 'douchey' about revving at morons on their phones at stop lights, I just like seeing them jump.
 

[bugeyes]

I too hate the placement of the horn button and want it where it should be, easily reached by the thumb. Every time I try to use it I puch the turn signal button to no avail
Can we please get back to discussing possible solutions?

[Guest 2wheeler]

Couple of thoughts/experiences on some of the previous posts in this thread....
 
I swiched to a Denali Soundbomb Mini-Horn, and my first time it paid for itself was dramatic in a sense. A Volvo SUV with the windows up was starting to cut into my lane at approx. 30mph. I hit the Denaili and that Volvo immediately cut back into their lane. So much for a slim chance of that happening.
 
Last summer I was driving my truck on that wonderful highway we call the Capital Beltway (I-495) at about 70mph with my windows up when a sport bike passed me. Let me tell you, I heard that bike on my left side a surprising distance before it actually passed me. If I was inclined to cut into the left lane, that riders exhaust pipes saved his life. So much for loud pipes NOT saving lives.
 
My take on all the pissing matches people have on here regarding precautions to take, or not take, to avoid an accident is this.... if it works even once, it was worth every expense/effort that you took. This includes bright colors on your clothing/helmet too.
 
Bottomline, if you hit a car or a car hits you, YOU LOSE! 
 

[rick]

And considering how many people are DWLD (illegal and stupid as it is) - Driving While Looking Down - and texting on a cell phone, even if like me you rarely use the horn button, it's nice to have one that'll wake the (brain) dead.

[Beemer]

I took the horn off my Daytona last year around August, because I think out of 3+ year of riding I used the horn maybe twice and it was to express annoyance. Never thought of it as a safety feature.

That's too funny! (rofl)  

[Beemer]

Until there's a fix, what I've done is look at the horn button and repeatedly reach with my thumb to touch the button to build up some muscle memory fast because I don't use it often. I then tried hitting the button without looking at it to test whether that worked and it has helped significantly. I don't fumble and look for the button like I used to. It was a bit of a stretch for me with my short fingers. I still wish it had been placed right to begin with and a fix would still be nice.
 

[stickshift]

Until there's a fix, what I've done is look at the horn button and repeatedly reach with my thumb to touch the button to build up some muscle memory fast because I don't use it often. I then tried hitting the button without looking at it to test whether that worked and it has helped significantly. I don't fumble and look for the button like I used to.

I did exactly the same. 
I don't really have issue with where the 07 horn button is placed, the difficulty for me is swapping between bikes with different horn button locations.
 
I looked at swapping the left hand switch cluster with something else (MT-03, R3 etc), and although the button placement is more 'normal', these cheaper models have poorer quality switch gear.