ST1100 Compact Stebel Horn Installation

Clair

'01 ST1100
Joined
Sep 20, 2005
Messages
76
Age
60
Location
SLC, Utah
ST1100 install of Stebel Compact horn.

Okay, I finally got around to doing this. YAY me. Now maybe the cager will hear me when I hit the horn! lol I meant to take pics along the way ... and forgot. Sorry. I have some AFTER shorts tho.

So we all know what I'm talking about, and I know we all do, but here is where I got it from.

http://www.casporttouring.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Stebel11135&Category_Code=new

It's a small horn, only 4 3/4" tall x 5 3/4" high x 3 1/2" deep, so you would think the install would be easy, lots of places to install it .. but think again. However, before I get into this, let me backtrack a bit.

Prior to doing the horn install I wante to wire up my fuse block. The one I have is okay, but in hindsight I might have gotten a different one, as the block I have only has connections for the positive terminals, nothing for the ground. I have the Power Connector plate http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Electric.html which is the one at the top of the page. It's nice,

small, compact, and has a setup so you can connect a battery tender to it if you like. I like it, other than it has NO ground connections, that proves to be a PITA. So, on order and waiting to arrive I have a master ground block coming.

Anyway, I find a place to install the fuse block. Not easy on the ST1100 as there really isn't a lot of room under the plastic. All the locations near the battery just would not work. Oh hte block would fit fine at first ... until I put in some fuses. Then there'd be no room. So, ultimately, I found a space on the right side below the air filter where it fits nicely. I think I lose one of the 6 slots putting it here, but that's okay for now. The HOT 12V line goes to the battery and to the fuse block. One lead to the ground terminal on the battery, and the other trigger lead to the ST1100's accessory wire. I had originally had this wire controlling my grip heaters, but I snipped that and ran the wire to the relay for the block. Install fuses and YAY, everything works. I now have a fuse block.

Fuse Block



Master Ground


With the fuse block in place and my grip heaters now wired to the block I begin my horn installation. Where to put it ... where to put it. I've read a lot here and on any other site that may have ST1100 info trying to find where people put them. Up inderneath? Where the Stock horn is? Trying all over. There are lots of places that look good initially ... until you realize that the reason there's all taht room there is because the steering shocks need to be able to get tehre in a hard lock turn. Oops. "What about here? ... nope, see, it gets hit if I turn left/righ" Ultimately I came to the realization that on the ST1100 there are only two places the Stebel Compact horn can go. One is tucked up insde the plastic on the right side (as you sit on the bike) and kinda sorta where the original horn was. That's it, just these two places. Great ...

Okay now which one to choose?Up inside the plastic there is plenty of room. There is a metal bar that comes down to the radiator. You can connect the
horn here using some hose clamps/straps or zip ties. Trouble is, horn is inside" the plastic plus it's aimed to the LEFT. Most often, the idiot I am honking at is in FRONT of me ... so this concerns me. How much sound will get out? Will I end up blasting me more than the traffic in front of me? So, that leaves where the original horn goes. First, remove original horn. This can be a pita if the bolt is not that willing to turn, as mine was. WD40 it and wait a bit and it'll loosen and come out. Undo some fasteners, cuss, swear a bit with the plastic, and yes, you can get the horn kinda sorta in where the original horn goes. Problem is, you'll have to cut some plastic to have this fit right. The cuts won't be visible to the outside, nobody will really notice unless they look right inside that left side ... but it still means cutting the plastic. And then ... it's lower than where the stock horn was, nothing to really secure it to ... hmm I could use the metal brackets from the stock horn but ... do I really waht to cut plastic? yeah, I have a dremel but ...

So, after much thought, having a friend come by to offer suggestions, I heed his advice and go with Simple Install first. That is, installing it in the upper right side, inside the plastic. This will require no modifications to the bike and
should be fairly easy to do. I can then try it out for a period of time and if I don't like it, I can then go to Option 2 and cut the plastic. Okay, got a place to put it. Now, time to wire things up.

Okay, I know my horn is going to be on the right side, but I decide to put the horn relay on the left side, near where the wires are for the stock horn.



So I measure out a length of 12g wire that will make it from the relay, back along the left side of the bike, across where the seat is, and back over to the relay. In hindsight I could have just run the wire in front of the bike to the relay ... but that wasn't thought of until AFTER I had everything all done. Hindsight is great only if you think of it early enough! lol I run a wire from the relay to the ground on the battery. Remember, at this point I still don't have my master ground block yet so everything still goes to the neg terminal on the battery. I find the horn + and - wires and attach them to the relay. Oh, I should point out I opted not to use the relay that came with the battery ... have heard bad stories about them ... and used a 12v relay I had purchased elsewhere. I cut 12g wire to go from the relay to the horn and wire that up, plus running wire from the horn to ground. At this point, the horn is just sitting on a box near the tire, basically straight down from where the stock was. First things first, let's make sure the wireing works and the horn works before I do any real installation.

Turn key on, put ear protection on (Having been warned about the sound level in a garage) and press ..... Holy Sh$t!!! It works and is loud! With the ear protection on I really can't tell how loud, compared to the stock, but my wife inside the house jumped, so it is loud enough! YAY, things worked, I didn't screw anything up. Now time to install everything where it needs to go.

Point of view if sitting on the bike



Looking up at the front tire




I detach the wire from the relay that go to the horn. Easier to re-attach them than it would be to re-attach the wires to the horn once it is installed. Now, how to do this, how to secure the horn to that bar. I have a metal hose clamp that I will use to secure the bottom, but what about the top ... can't really use another clamp there ... so I'll zip tie it.Mental note ... next time choose a zip tie that is LONG ENOUGH to start ... but more on that later. Thankfully I have small hands so I have some room ... some. Nothing like trying to hold the horn in place, get the clamp around it, get the clamp to
feed back in on itself so it will tighten ... mental note again .... clamp was large enough that I could have put it around the bar and rethread it without the horn being there. THEN, all I would have had to do was slip it on the bottom of the horn. Good for the next time I do this. Anyway, after much swearing and sweating I get everything to work and I can secure the horn. The metal hose clamp holds it very securely but I still want to zip tie it. This is where I realize that the zip tie I attached, to make things easier, isn't long enough. SH$T. Okay, pull that one out, find longer one, spend a few minutes trying to rethread it. There is a thin slot wehre the bolt would go on the horn that I'm using for this. This is all done with feel as I can't see a thing. Anyway, I finally thread it and secure it. Whew!

Zip tie wires leading to relay


I wire up the relay and using two sided sticky velcro I install it up inside the fairing where it should be protected from rain and gunk. Leads are pointing down so no water should trickle into or onto the relay.I attach the fuses, zip tie the wires so they won't move much, get back on the bike and test it out. WONK! Woo Hoo, I didn't screw anything up on the final intall. So, I then put all theplastic back on the bike, grab my gear and go out for a ride. This is the true test. How will it sound on the road, will the sound shoot back from inside the plastic and blast me off the seat? On the side streets I test it. New sound for sure, "sounds" louder to me. Damn, should hvae done this test
ride first to remember the differences, oh well. Now, back on the highway, yep, can here it there. I'm sure it's louder than my stock Meep Meep. YAY. Now to just lay in wait for the next idiot to cut me off ...

All in all a fairly easy installation. Hardest part was just trying to figure out where to put the horn. Wiring was reasonably easy too.
 

Mark

Gotta make tracks
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nice.
funny how our 1st choice in cable ties are short... NOT! funny!

Each time I use the meeper I contemplate getting a STebel.

Mark
 
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