Stebel Compact Horn Farkel Completed

[curmudgeon]

Just finished completing the install of a Stebel Compact Air Horn. It sounds great. I'm glad Jeff B. alerted us to this Horn before I bothered with other alternatives. The Compact fits easily with no triming. I also used 12 gage wire as suggested by Jeff with a 20A inline fuse.

Phil

[sttourer]

Glad to hear it (pun intended). My Stebel compact showed up last week and hope to tackle it in the next few days.

[Carl_T]

Does the Steble come with it's own relay?

[number9]

Yes it does. I got the compact and it wasn't as compact as I expected. It took a while to find a place to fit it on the ST1100, but I finally did. Here's a pic.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/199180201/354714668RplmIH

[nm6r]

The more traditional dual trumpet air horns fit nicely on the ST1300 also.

BTW, they are on sale now for only $13.99 at Harbor Freight. They come with the relay.

Ray
http://www.frontiernet.net/~st1300rider/smile04Bikerwheelie.gif

[wjbertrand]

Just finished completing the install of a Stebel Compact Air Horn. It sounds great. I'm glad Jeff B. alerted us to this Horn before I bothered with other alternatives. The Compact fits easily with no triming. I also used 12 gage wire as suggested by Jeff with a 20A inline fuse.

Phil

Phil, do you have a picture of how you fitted the compact one?

[curmudgeon]

Phil, do you have a picture of how you fitted the compact one?

Sorry Jeff, I plumb forgot to take photos. I did refer to your photos for the install, and it's substantially the same as yours. I used zip ties to attach the horn, and didn't bother with a clamp such as you used. The horn Has plenty of room and doesn't contact anything. Sure does work great.

Phil

[wjbertrand]

Sorry Jeff, I plumb forgot to take photos. I did refer to your photos for the install, and it's substantially the same as yours. I used zip ties to attach the horn, and didn't bother with a clamp such as you used. The horn Has plenty of room and doesn't contact anything. Sure does work great.

Phil

Thanks Phil, one of the things I was wondering was if the compact unit could be mounted lower down in the faring, closer to the openings in the inner faring for the OEM horn. If that were possible, it might seem even louder!

BTW, got to scare the s**t out of a BDC this morning. As I was passing a clapped out 20-year-old Toyota pickup, I saw the driver's left hand push the left turn indicator down and start to move to the left of his lane while I was right beside him but slightly to the rear of the driver's door. I didn't wait for him to come into my lane before laying on the STebel. The guy swerved hard to the right, slightly squealing the tires then looked out at me and around with big blinking cartoon eyes. Yeah he's awake now, I thought, as I continued on by and on my way to work.

That's two times I've used the horn to good effect since installation.

[Bones]

Any delay from the time you push the horn button to the time you hear "HONK"?

[curmudgeon]

Any delay from the time you push the horn button to the time you hear "HONK"?

There doesn't appear to be, but if there is it's not much. I'm surprised that they could make an air horn that could build up pressure fast enough, but it seems that have accomplished that. :clap2:

Phil

[wjbertrand]

There doesn't appear to be, but if there is it's not much. I'm surprised that they could make an air horn that could build up pressure fast enough, but it seems that have accomplished that. :clap2:

Phil

Any delay is at most, fractions of a second. I think the unitized design with the trumpets immediately proximal to the compressor outlet helps to minimze any delay. It's unnoticable compared to the separate compressor and trumpet systems that are connected together with tubing.

[nm6r]

I have the seperate trumpets and compressor connected with tubing on my ST1300. There is no noticeable delay. Of course, the compressor and trumpets are as close as possible with only a few inches of tubing total.

Ray
http://www.frontiernet.net/~st1300rider/smile04Bikerwheelie.gif

[CrashTestDanny]

Hi guys, I'm kinda new to the group and wanted to chime in on this horn upgrade....

Thanks Phil, one of the things I was wondering was if the compact unit could be mounted lower down in the faring, closer to the openings in the inner faring for the OEM horn. If that were possible, it might seem even louder!

Has anyone mounted the STebel TM80/2 Magnum? It's two electromagnetic horns with smallish trumpets and has the same output as the Nautilus (139 Db @ 4 inches, 115Db @ 2 meters). The Magnum weighs a little less than the Nautilus, is a little smaller (80mm diameter vs. 150x112x95mm), requires a little less power (12A @12V vs. 18A @ 12V), and has lower tones (410/500 Hz vs. 530/680 Hz) for all those cagers who can't seem to hear the high-pitched motorcycle horns. Looks like the Magnum is better suited to a motorcycle application than the Nautilus... of course - it's not an air horn... What do you guys think?

All the details came from http://www.stebel.it. They also have sounds from all of their horns on the site, so you can try before you buy as it were.

Dan
'05 ST 1300

[panmanbos]

hello Dan

where did you order the stebel horns, there is no order possibility on their site

thanks Theo :cool:

[sttourer]

hello Dan

where did you order the stebel horns, there is no order possibility on their site

thanks Theo :cool:

Excuse me for horning in ( :) ). I purchased mine at

http://adventurersworkshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AWI&Category_Code=Stebel_Air_Horns

:biker:

[CrashTestDanny]

hello Dan

where did you order the stebel horns, there is no order possibility on their site

thanks Theo :cool:

Sorry for the delay, Theo. I ordered them from Joe Strbik.

www.hornsplusauto.com

[REDLINE]

I'm almost shy to ask ... Please tell me how did you do the installation - for what I understand, relay and wire are not included - so what do I need to make a proper installlation
Thans for the infos

[texxter]

Redline, don't be shy here! I learned about the installation here:

http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23822&mode=linear&highlight=horn+relay#post23822

The horn comes with a relay. The post above should tell you how to connect the relay to the battery, the horn and the horn switch. Terminals on the relay are numbered, so it's pretty straightforward.

[CrashTestDanny]

I'm almost shy to ask ... Please tell me how did you do the installation - for what I understand, relay and wire are not included - so what do I need to make a proper installlation
Thans for the infos

Alrighty...

Shopping List:
inline fuse holder (1)
30A fuse (1)
female spade connectors (10ish)
30A horn relay (1)
lug connector - for battery (1)
Stebel TM80/2 Magnum horn set (1)

Tools & Supplies:
soldering iron
solder
flux
14ga hookup wire, red (5 feet)
14ga hookup wire, black or green (5 feet)
heat shrink tubing - optional
electrical tape - mandatory


1 - Make two "Y" connectors from the black or green hookup wire. The first Y should have 3 female spade connectors, the second should have 2 female spade connectors and either a small (5/16" or 3/8") lug or just be bare wire. I soldered mine, but you could probably use some kind of crimp connectors to do this. Soldering is just better, IMO. Be sure that everything is insulated either with heat shrink tubing or electrical tape.

2 - Cut the 5 feet of red wire close (6-10") to one end. Solder or otherwise attach the inline fuse holder. Remove the fuse from the holder if it has one in it. Connect the large lug connector to the end closest to the fuse holder. Route the wire from the battery, under te seat, under the frame where it crosses below the gas tank, along the upper right frame member to the right fairing support and to the relay. Add a female spade connector to the end and connect it to terminal 30/51 on your relay.

3 - Connect the horn wires from the stock horn to terminals 85/86 of the relay. There is a specific order and you can figure it out with a multimeter, but just as easy to hook it up and switch them if the horn sounds dead (I mean really dead) when you test it.

4 - Remove right outside upper cowl. Someone recommended the inner cowl, but I think it was easier to access the horn this way and you'll want to check things with the inner cowl in place later.

5 - Remove stock horn.

6 - Bolt relay in place.

7 - Bolt horns in place.

8 - Attach Ys to horns. One Y should connect to both horns' rear terminals and to the frame (ground - I used the bolt that holds the fairing support on - see pic). The other Y goes to the forward terminal on each horn and then to the output terminal of the relay (terminal 87).

9 - Insert the 30A fuse in the fuse holder.

10 - Turn ignition on. Press horn button.
- If the horn sounds weak, switch the original horn wires that you connected to terminals 85/86.
- If horn does not sound at all, check the fuse.

11 - Check that the horns are not pushing the inner cowl toward the forks. This may produce rubbing or other undesirable things when the forks are turned. I had to bend my horn brackets a little to accomodate.

12 - Reassemble the fairing.

13 - Go find all the brain-dead cagers you can and blow your horn at them to watch them jump!!!

14 - Log on to ST-Owners.com to share your success with us all and deride the aforementioned cell-phone-glued-to-the-ear-while-they-smoke-and-suck-down-their-cappucino-and-eat-a-DQ-burger idiots.

For questions about relays, see this post from ataDude: http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showpost.php?p=39177&postcount=5

If you have any troubles, go ahead and post here or PM me and I'll be happy to try to help!

[REDLINE]

Please help !
Would you be kind to tell me where I'm wrong:
1 wire 12 ga. with a fuse from the + battery to the 30/51 pin of the relay
1 wire from the horn switch to the 85 terminal of the relay
1 wire from the horn (in fact the other one) to the 87 terminal of the relay
how do I connect the stebel horn + and - with what ?

[REDLINE]

You may laugh ! and believe me you will
I have problems understanding a diagram - what can I say .
This one shows 2 horns - but I just have one or it was the + and the - of a single horn.
I know it is simple - but I can't go through
Don't give up -

[STeve1300]

Courtesy of Chet at rattlebars.com Forget about the shaded, circled part at left bottom.

http://www.rattlebars.com/mtz/hornrelay.gif

Hey Red, this may over simplify things, but you asked.

In the diagram, mentally erase that stuff in the pink cloud. Unnecessary info. Then "erase" the bottom horn and the green & red wires back to the "dot" in the wire. The dot is a connection, otherwise when pictured wires cross, they are in fact separated. The blue wire represents the wire that goes to your existing horn. Hook that wire to "86"( You incorrectly have it hooked up to "85"). You do have the power from the fuse correct. Now you can run one wire from the horn to "87". For the final horn wire, either "ground" it somewhere by the horn, or run it all the way back to #85. It does'nt matter - BUT you DO NEED to ground the relay by running another wire from "85" to ground (Metal frame of bike) In this option you will have two wires hooked up to #85. This works either way because the metal frame of the bike (the "ground") actually acts like a super heavy guage wire.

[REDLINE]

Thanks and thanks again
I can calculate the economical interior growth of a country - but I can not figure out how to connect a stupid horn ...
I will do it tomorrow thanks again

[Blackdog]

I just installed a Stebel yesterday and if I understand the relay correctly. The hot wire from the battery goes to the 30 pole on the relay and the 87 pole on the relay goes to the positive pole on the horn. The negative pole on the horn grounds either to the frame or the battery. The two wires off the stock horn go on the 86 and 85 pole on the relay. It doesn't make any difference which way the currect flows between the 86 and and 85 so the stock wires can go on either pole. I had a could not hear the stock horn while underway, but the Stebel I can hear at 80mph going into a head wind and with my ear plugs in place. And yes, it's good for scaring buzzards off a carcass.

[Fastraveller]

Hey STeve1300,

I really appreciate your explanation on the horn install because I plan to do this in the near future. However, I have one question: I thought we weren't supposed to connect "ground" wires to the alloy frames of these motorcycles due to some type of electro-chemical reaction that could cause problems with the frame later on. I can't quote the source of this info, but I know I've seen it 2-3 times. I would think that it would be preferable to "ground" to an appropriate location back into the electrical system of the bike. Are you aware of such a location on the bike that someone could run their "ground" to?

Thanks again,
David

[jholder]

Just a quick note of thanks to all who posted their experiences with the installation of the Stebel horn. I installed a compact model yesterday. Texxters pics of where he mounted his were invaluable as were the step by step instructions that danf posted. The instructions included with the Stebel had me using the wrong terminals to attach the wires. Once I looked at danf's instructions and rewired it worked great.

Now instead of that wimpy beep from the stock Honda horn it sounds like a train is coming through.

Thanks!

[texxter]

Just a quick note of thanks to all who posted their experiences with the installation of the Stebel horn... [clip]

Now instead of that wimpy beep from the stock Honda horn it sounds like a train is coming through.

Thanks!

Glad it worked out for you! I very rarely use the horn, but when I do need it, I certaily appreciate having one that can be heard!

[Vanburi]

This would be nice on the ST...

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/943/

[JW-1300]

Got mine installed and love it.

[newbornst1300]

I just got mine installed this afternoon and tested it with the bike in the garage. WOW the blast from it is LOUD :D and that should be the standard for motorcycle horns. Can't wait to try a road test.
Great pictures and info and I even managed to get all the tupperware off /on without damage.
Thanks
Chris :03biker:

[805gregg]

I installed my compact air horn last night, thanks for the help members, was very easy with your instructions, a word of caution, my relay that came with the horn was defective, luckily I had another, but watch out, I tested it in my garage twice, this morning my ears are still ringing.

[Rob Hephner]

Funny, I have dealt with relays for about 20 years as i installed car audio and have continued simular projects all the way to know and in my life I have only ever had one relay actually go bad -- What was the one, you ask? It was the one that came with my Stebel Horn!? Odd huh?

Another note, and i will admit this because I was stupid and just didn't think about it. Make sure you mount your horn with the actual horn part facing down so that it does not get water in it.

I was riding to Vegas last week and wen to beep the horn -- it make a high shreeking sound and I was perplexed. Since I was ticked about it, I kept pushing the horn button and the sound started to change. Then water spalshed up out of the vent by the top of the pockets and the horn started getting louder. The more I honked the the horn the more water came out and the sound returned to normal -- What a DORK! LOL

Turned it over, no problems now... :)

[805gregg]

I'll tell ya what, I installed the supplied relay, nothing but a click, changed the stock horn wires around, lt green to trigger, nothing, changed the relay out for a radio shack that I had for installing my blue seas unit. Everthing worked as it should, so bad relay, I took the bad one apart it looked fine, but who cares the horn is very loud and works evey time.

[George Radominski]

I bought Compact Stebel but could not mount it in the commonly used ST1300 space. The Honda speaker box takes enough room to prevent Compact Stebel installation. Instead of Compact Stebel I installed Fiamm CE/2 FTI air horns from Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?f=bylogo&logourl=signaltone%2Egif&brand=SIGNALTONE (on sale for $13.99).
My side by side comparison of Stebel and Fiamm resulted with Fiamm being a little louder. I also compared Fiamm Air Horns with Fiamm Freeway Blaster and the side by side difference is large in favor of Air Horns.

Please see installation pictures attached. Second picture shows a simple bracket I made to attach the front horn to the lower mirror housing spring. The fit of the compressor and the horns is just right; there is not much room to spare. Clamps are from AutoZone.

George.

[Blackdog]

Nice work George!

[Rolling Thunder]

It looks like you connected the OEM ground to the relay - is that correct?

[Kempo-STer]

I just got mine installed this afternoon and tested it with the bike in the garage. WOW the blast from it is LOUD :D and that should be the standard for motorcycle horns. Can't wait to try a road test.
Great pictures and info and I even managed to get all the tupperware off /on without damage.
Thanks
Chris :03biker:


Same here..

Brian (Georgegeorge) came over and we got the horn put in, the fork lights from Electrical Connections (Finally) and powerlet.
Blasted the horn in the garage with the door closed..HOLY CRAP...You'd think there was a 18 wheeler in my garage:eek: ..That sucker is loud!!

The lights are a great addition as well...Really give off a great signature to the bike and as an added bonus they point where ever the tire points. A good added safety feature all the way around..

Thanks BRIAN!! I'll post pics with the lights on tonight..

[texxter]

It looks like you connected the OEM ground to the relay - is that correct?

Hello Joe,
There is a good discussion about grounding the horn here: http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3508&highlight=stebel+ground (http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3508&highlight=stebel+ground).

In a nutshell:

Use the stock horn positive cable (light green w/ silver stripe) to power the relay's coil, terminal #85 .
The other cable from the OEM horn (dark green) goes to the ground connector on the relay, #86
Run a 12Ga wire forward from the battery through a 20A fuse to the #30 switch terminal on the relay
Connect from the relay #87 terminal to the "+" terminal of the Stebel horn.
From the "-" terminal of the horn, run a wire directly to ground. Per the manufacturer, this horn should be mounted so that the cylinder is vertical (with the horn facing down). There should be no more than a 15 degree variance from the vertical position. If it is not mounted per these specifications, then the horn may cease to function after a period of time.


Good luck!
-Paco

[Big Al]

For those people that remove or drill holes in the inner fairing cowl, you may want to add an air hose to draw air from another area on the bike that wont be subject to dirty air which may ruin the horn. The Stebel Nautalis comes with an air hose attachment but, the hose needs to be purchaced at your local hardware store.