I’m just a few days into ownership of my V7 Sport. Already it’s a machine that finds me popping into the garage just for a look at it resplendent in it’s heritage Verde Lagnano livery. Few other bikes I’ve owned have elicited this desire, KTM 990 Adventure Dakar, Aprilia RSV-R Mille and Honda Fireblade are the contenders from my list.
The horn on the V7 is, unfortunately, the other end of the scale of desirability, it sounds like a wasp in a tin. So I thought, no stress, I’ll avail myself of a ‘direct replacement‘ Denali Soundbomb Mini and bolt it to the oem bracket, job done. That is until I viewed a YT video of an owner who’d done exactly that only for the horn to impact the rear of the front mudguard when the forks compressed causing unsightly damage. Any advice in terms of a fitment solution gratefully received.
Hey Gizmo! Oh the tear jerking sight of a man enraptured and enthralled and seduced by a thing of beauty! LOL I have been there too often to deny my own philandering and wonder “do we ever learn?” NOT apparently. It’s a wonderful thing every time and totally denies any kind of logic? I love it and hope I am never immune.
Now to “getting the horn?” Bear with me here.
I just got my V100 Mandello and am similarly smitten, believe me!
Fortunately or not, the previous owner had thrown over two grand’s worth of lovely farkles at it thus denying me the masochistic torture of further hammering my bank balance to salve my hedonistic urges.
One of these was a pair of air horns (sorry, I have no idea what brand) worthy of a Peterbilt semi tractor! They are glorious! Then I realised, in over 50yrs of riding when did I ever actually use my horn? I honestly don’t recall even once.
However, for some utterly inexplicable reason, I love them??? Go figure!
Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in and save you.
Dunno why I am sitting here on a wet miserable cold morning burdening you with my useless mental stravaiging. I offer only a feeling of utter kinship with all my fellow bike obsessed brethren to reassure me I am never alone!
I wish you success in your quest! Secure in the knowledge.. you ain’t done yet!
Final thought, why is it so many, not all mind you, wives and partners profess to not comprehend us? Are we not simply doing exactly what they do? (OK I do have several pairs of footwear for riding and more two wheeled clothing than is entirely sensible but… they are all totally necessary are they not?)
If you want to be certain that it will not hit then put a tiewrap tight around the fork stanchion just below the fork seal. After a few weeks riding it will have been pushed to the maximum the suspension will allow (this is rarely what a manufacturer claims).
Put the bike on the centre stand and support the sump. Measure the distance from the fork seal to the tie wrap - that is your wheel-travel under full suspension movement.
Now slacken the fork clamps and slide the forks up by that distance. The wheel and mudguard are now where they will be in relation to the frame under full suspension compression so you can see if there is enough room for your mini sound bomb (on my v85tt there is enough room but the steering angle is very flat on these bikes).
When you have done that put the forks back where they were and torque up the clamp screws to the factory figures.
There have been a few similar threads on here in the past. Search for Soundbomb and it will bring them up.
Here’s one that is very similar and no mention of the mudguard hitting the horn
I fitted a Soundbomb to my V85 and recently fitted an Oxford equivalent to my V7. It can be turned and positioned so the mudguard doesn’t hit it but took a bit of trial and error. And best of all the Oxford horn is less than a tenner from Sportsbikeshop.
Have you ridden the V7 with the horn in place and experienced no mudguard damage? A photograph of the fitted horn would be appreciated when you can. Thanks in advance.
