Mounting Stebel horn

[DirtFlier]

Several  months ago I purchased a dual-tone Stebel.  The skin on my bike is tight so I knew that separating the two sections (horn and compressor) was necessary.  I did get them apart without damage and mounted the compressor just in front of the fairing pocket while the horn was mounted low and behind the fairing.  The compressor's air outlet plugs into a receptacle in the horn unit so I made a flanged, aluminum fitting and epoxy'd it in place on the horn, then connected the two units with 1/4" i.d. vinyl hose.  It's powered via its own relay so it has more than enough power and is LOUD!


   

[Patmo]

Good idea!  I have one for my bike as well, it was on the bike when I bought it, but I had never been happy about the way it was mounted, and last year it came lose.  I took it completely off and have been trying to figure out how to remount it in a better way.  I never thought about seperating the two parts and mounting them individually.  I'll have to take a look at that and see if it will work for me.


What kind of bike did you mount it on?




They are definetly LOUD!   

[DirtFlier]

Pat,


The compressor has an integral mounting lug that I used but you could easily create a mount by using two automotive hose clamps that secure a 90-degree bracket to the compressor.  One thing to keep in mind is Stebel's recommendation to keep the compressor vertical, or off vertical by no more 20-degrees.  Conversely, the horn can be mounted in any position but ideally so the output horns are not subject to rain water being forced in. 


Tosh 


ps.  there is a hole near the top of the compressor and it should be kept clear since it's the air intake for the piston.

[DirtFlier]

It's mounted on my Honda NT700V which has a very tight partial skin.  By comparison, my PC800 had full body work but much easier to work on because there was actually room to mount stuff under the plastic.


Tosh 

[Leaner]

4 years ago I installed a Stebel horn on my 2007 Ducati 1098 after hearing how loud it was.  I connected it direct to the battery.

The good? I LOVED the volume and how it got everyone's attention.

The not so good?  During a high speed, full throttle pass (aren't they all) the car I was passing drifted slightly out of its lane.  I nailed the horn button and the bike stuttered severely and lost a chunk of acceleration.  After completing the pass I tested combinations of throttle and horn.  On this bike (and maybe others?) the combined current draw of the bike electronics at or near full throttle plus the horn appeared to cause some electronic issue with the CPU.  I checked and rechecked all the wiring and didn't find any issues.  I disconnected the Stebel from the battery and reinstalled the stock horn and repeated the throttle-horn tests - as expected it worked perfectly.  I can only conclude the current draw required to spin up the compressor was more than the Ducati could handle during large throttle openings.

I now ride a 2009 1198S and still have the Stebel horn in a box.

[DirtFlier]

Did you have the horn mounted near the bike's ECU or wires going to the ECU?  If I'm not mistaken the compressor is just a large electromagnet so it could effect some nearby electronic components. 

Motorcycle Consumer News had a horn comparison in their latest issue and the Stebel didn't fare well because of its size, which made installation more difficult.  They showed the Stebel pulling around 8 Amps.   

MCN recommended using dual Fiamms which I had for a long time but my installation location kept burning out the right horn because of moisture getting into the horn so I went to the Stebel mounted on the left side. 


 

[Leaner]

I don't think distance to the CPU was the issue - the compressor was mounted on the right side of the bike and right beside the horizontal cylinder while the CPU is on the other side of the bike and shielded by the engine.

I didn't do extensive testing but the stuttering only happened during moderate to aggressive acceleration while using the horn.  Constant speed or mild acceleration didn't appear to have any effect.  I vaguely recall someone else reporting the same thing but can't find it online.

If it wasn't such a PITA to reinstall and then possibly end up with the same problem I'd do it all over again since the loud horn absolutely got attention when required.

[mi-msta]

The problem with the Stebel horn occurs all the time on most bikes with CAN Bus technology. Whether wired up direct to the battery or otherwise. You really notice it under hard acceleration, but I have experienced it under all conditions on my 1098.
At 8 amps - (it's fused for 20 I believe), the system sees too large a draw and the result is an interruption to the bikes electronics. I haven't tried it, but it's possible that if you held the horn on long enough, the bike would eventually stall out.
Unlike Leaner, I didn't remove mine. A slight interruption is not a big issue to me as long as I am aware it will happen. Most cars don't even hear a normal bike horn - so the answer to a car wandering into my lane lies in my right wrist. 

[TeeCee]

I like mine. It has saved me several times. I had to build a mount for my Versys

[fartymarty]

Motorcycle Consumer News had a horn comparison in their latest issue .... They showed the Stebel pulling around 8 Amps.

Slight correction, 18 amps .

I too separated the Stebel into two pieces connected by a hose on my Concours 14. There is a slight delay in sound as it spins
up which is more noticeable if you pair it with an instantaneous horn like I did, a low tone Fiamm freeway blaster (about 4+ amps IIRC).

The Stebel Nautilus is a loud horn, however some of the write ups are a little too generous. I'll admit that I have not ever heard two Stebels activated
at the same time, but I have doubts about them sounding like

...sounds very much like a semi truck's horn on steroids!

I think that "an angry driver in a large Mercedes " would be more accurate.

From my experience, the article in MCN seems pretty much right on the money. (links may break with time passage)
,