Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge A retailer with GREAT service.

About 8 months ago I spent a bunch of cash (more than I could really justify with shipping costs from US to AU) on a Stebel Nautilus Compact horn. I purchased it from Twisted Throttle, and it arrived in the expected time and worked in the expected way. No big deal there right?

For those who don't know this horn it's a very compact and very loud air horn with two discordant notes - great for getting the attention of soccer mums in SUV's before they kill you. About a month ago one of the notes stopped working which left me with a (very expensive) slightly louder version of the standard horn. Naturally I was pissed. I contacted Twisted Throttle and spoke with their purchasing manager Dan Caya and explained about the costs of shipping vs the cost of the actual horn, exchange rates, etc. He contacted Stebel on my behalf, requested photos of the fitting to the bike, and arranged a warranty replacement without shipping the original back. When there was a shipping error he went out of his way to help me correct it, his responses were always within 1 working day, and he was eager to assist in any way. He also provided me with information to correct my installation so the problem wouldn't arise again.

I've got to say that these guys were one of the most helpful retailers I've encountered and I recommend them highly.

The dealings I had with them were first rate, professional, timely, decent value. I would not hesitate to deal with them again.

Always good to hear about great vendors.

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He also provided me with information to correct my installation so the problem wouldn't arise again.

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Since I have the same horn, what was the correction?

OK that's weird. I got this reply from "toofless" in my email as a reply to this post but it doesn't appear to be on the board.

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I'm interested in upgrading my horn and this looks like a pretty economical solution.

Is it really as loud as they claim on the website?

Also, was installation pretty straight-forward? Does it require one of the mounting brackets to fit the America?

OK I'll stop asking questions now. Thanks!

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Yes, it's at least as loud as they describe it. If you're standing beside the bike demonstrating it for a friend it's mind-bogglingly loud. (Ask me how I know )

Installation's not hard - you DO need to fit the relay but that's really pretty simple. The relay and the horn both require an earth wire which doesn't exist on our bikes but you can create one by simply bolting a wire to the frame at a convenient point. I fitted the relay to the mounting tab for the (removed) AI pump, and the earth wire to the same bolt.

Other than that I used a chrome strap about 3" long that I got off an unused National Cycles windscreen, though you could probably use the one that mounts the standard horn. It bolts to the standard position pointing upwards then the horn bolts to the other end. Just angle the bracket slightly to centre the horn. From memory there's a small tab on the standard horn mount that you have to bend out of the way too.

The two original horn wires can be used to switch the Stebel's relay. The connectors are even the right size. I don't recall if the OEM wires are phased or not.

The only drawback I can find to the Stebel is where to put it. It's a might large for some folk's taste. Some who are greatly concerned about their bike's appearance may not want it out swingin' in the wind. I tucked mine behind the triple tree mounted tool bag, on a bracket bolted under the headlight mount.

My Stebel saved my bacon when I was dead center in a car's blind spot in the pouring rain outside Indy. An old timer was about to move into my lane. A one second blast let him know I was there, and all was well. No hard feelings. I can't say if the factory meep meep would have gotten the job done. Guess I'll never know.

I'm pretty sure I've had the stock horn wires hooked up both ways to the relay, no problems.