charly17201

Anyone else have an Airzounds on a USS SWB bent? Mine just arrived and I had to come up with a 'modified' mounting as my options were somewhat limited. I ended up with the horn on the left side of the bar and the air bottle on the right. I hope this works out.

I've got this one intersection I go through each afternoon and I swear I almost get hit 2-3 times a week cause the cagers don't look. Well this will have them looking. I admit - I tried the horn out... had several neighbors coming outside to see what it was.

I did toy with the idea of getting an old Cadilac horn and mounting it.

Engyo

You might try https://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/index.php . Lots of folks on there use Airzounds, on lots of different bents.

palmersperry

Used to have an airzound fitted onto a USS Streetmachine. Mounted the horn itself under the right brake lever, with the horn outboard of the handlebars and pointing forward. Easy enough to hit with your palm whilst grabbing the brakes if required. The bottle I mounted by extending the cable ties on the velcro patch and hanging it under the frame. (IIRC, I also wrapped the hose around the handlebars so things wouldn't get lost if it came off mid-ride.)

charly17201

Sorry, I misspoke earlier. Yes, I have mine on the right like you had and the air bottle mounted really low on the left side of the bar.

I may need (okay I really do need) to strip out all my zip ties and do some rerouting on my electrics. I also have a home made headlight that is blindingly bright (65 watt mr16 halogen 12 degree spot) up front - with the battery that sits in the rear trunk bag. After I do that I could probably mount a bottle cage on the frame in the front. But, I have the concern of stretching the air line the way my steering is - back from the fork about 6 inches. But I can probably come up with a reasonable routing.

BikeZen.org

I had one for a bit over a year, but removed it because it's either:

(a) too loud for pedestrians/cyclists
(b) too late or too inappropriate for motorists

Explanation of (b): If I need the horn and have time to use it, I'll just use my brakes instead. If I don't have time to use it, then I'm in trouble anyway. And if they've already past me, using it only upsets/scares them. They have a 4000 lb. bullet in their hands, and scaring them just gives them a bad taste in their mouth for future cyclist encounters. That's not good for me or any of my brethren.

If I'm really unhappy with a motorist, I don't get unhappy/angry, I get even: I'll get their plate, call 911, and tell dispatch I'd like to file a report. Dangerous or negligently oblivious behavior is criminal and is punishable under the law.

For 99.999% of encounters, I like a good-old-fashioned bell. Pedestrians and slower cyclists know what it is and respond appropriately. Motorists don't know or care.

Onus

I agree with that last point.
If I get cut off or otherwise placed in a situation in my car that might justify the horn, I'm usually more concerned about using the time to steer and/or brake. My use of the horn is mostly limited to an occasional light toot to wake up the drone in front of me. If I'm on my trike, the volume of a horn is not going to prevent me from getting crunched. Should I encounter a true idiot, hopefully I'd have both the opportunity and presence of mind to use my cellphone camera. So far, my limited street riding has not involved notable traffic, so I haven't had any problems. My wife and I have windsocks with streamers though, so we should be visible.

charly17201

Well, after a few days use, I am happy with my Airzounds. I use it only at one intersection that Is hard for the cars to see down the way I'm coming - and I've been almost hit so many times there. Now I just give a toot if I see the front of a car starting to pull up. It is enough for them to realize I'm coming.

As far as peds and other riders..... never ever had a need for a horn. Just a friendly "on your left" for the riders, and the peds ain't walkin' in the street where I am.

Bobsk8

I had an Airzound horn but went back to a bell. The horn scared the daylights out of pedestrians and cyclists, and to use it just for cars, I didn't feel it was necessary as was already mentioned.

jeffh129

The Airzound also works nice against dogs that are running toward you. One blast of the horn usually gets them to stop.

Onus

Never let a dog wonder for an instant if you're not the bigger, tougher, and meaner of the two of you.

chucky

I don't use it to alert motorists of where I am heading, I use it to alert them of where I am. Brakes are not a substitute because they do not change where I am, but only where I am going.

For example, I honk my horn when I see a motorist coming up from behind that doesn't appear to be slowing down or changing lanes or I use it when I see a motorist turning towards me with their head looking in the opposite direction. I feel this is especially important in the rain or at night.

I also use it to respond when I get honked at. I reciprocate with the exact same duration of honk I receive and the beauty of this scheme is that if the person honking at me is just giving a friendly "I see you" then I am responding with a friendly "I see you too", but if the person honking at me is giving an offensive "I'm blaring my horn to annoy you" then I am responding with an offensive "I'm blaring my [louder] horn to annoy you". I feel even the belligerent usage is a good thing because some motorists just like to harass cyclists because they think they're "teaching them a lesson" or "scaring them off the road" so I think it's important to let them know that in reality they're just being a-holes or else they will think that every one of their silent victims fading into the mirror is another job well done and continue to create problems. I'm sorry to say that I tend to get a lot more courtesy and respect if I honk back than if I don't and I think it actually results in a lot less honking overall because once they realize I'm not going to be intimidated they focus more on operating their own vehicles than harassing me. I really wish we could all just be respectful and courteous without such reminders, but if this is the way its gotta be then so be it.

Getting back on topic, I'd prefer to mount my airzound pointing rearward on my left handlebar, but I couldn't make that work so it's pointing forward and slightly to the right on my left handlebar. Only way it could be worse is if it were pointing right at my face, but I figure it's so loud and I'm so close to it that I'm going to get an earful no matter which way it's pointing.