Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Got A Stebel Nautilus -- Questions

I read that some installed the Stebel Nautilus horn using the stock bracket and location. Good, because I also read people who took 2+ hours to install it.

I ordered the wiring kit too.

Does it have to face a particular way to avoid dust, etc.?

Do you have to remove any parts to installed it in the stock place, like tank, seat or battery? And if so, do I need any special tools. The manual always says tighten to <pressure>, and I don't have a way to measure any kind of pressure other than "I can't tighten it anymore."

I have a 2007 America.

Thanks

That's a good loud horn. Smart investment.
A little dab of Loctite can often remove concerns on tightening bolts on the bike.

Someone in the past suggested running some clear tubing for the intake back under the tank to keep dust out. You can get 1/4" tubing from home depot for like a dollar a foot... Taking the tank off is real simple. I think there's instructions in the tech vault, certainly been explained many times. Also REALLY good way to get familiar with the bike.

As far as the horn no it mount on the bracket, my bracket is angled up at about 11:00 looking from the front of the bike. Yes you'll have to remove the tank to mount the relay. Mounted my relay using one of the bolts from the air injection mounts that I removed. Mounted a hot wire from the battery with an inline fuse to the relay and one out the other side to the horn. Used the horn wires mounted to the relay to make it work. Used a short ground wire from the - post on horn with a eye on it and put it under the mounting bracket on bike for a ground. Don't test horn in a closed garage. Phil --e-mail me if you have any other questions.

I just successfully installed a Stebel Horn. I used the original horn bracket [about 3" long], with the rubber gasket end attached to the horn. Used the orginal mounting bolt in it's hole and this also is where I attached a short, 10", ground wire from the horn. A power feed went back to the battery with a covered 20 Amp inline fuse. My tank was off, so it was easy to run this wire in an orderly fashion. You could run a pretty neat wire with the tank on and just remove the battery cover. Just above and to the left of the horn mounting bolt, is a small bolt that holds a wire loom in place. This is where I mounted the relay. The small hole in the relay tab had to be enlarged just a bit to accept the bolt. The 2 original horn wires are right there, but just short of connecting to the relay, so I removed the ends and added 6" of new wire with new female connectors and connected these to the relay. You'll also need a 12" power wire running from the relay to the horn. All new connectors had shrink wrap covering the crimped area and a bit of the wire to help get a water tight connection.
Matt has a page that shows a wiring diagram for the relay and other usefull horn install tid bits.
The Stebel Horn is a great addition to your bike. Don




http://members.optusnet.com.au/~matt_l/horns.htm

Thank you everybody for the useful replies. You guys are great.

I did have the AI removed at the dealer. I understand that gives me a good spot to mount the relay but I get to it only by removing the tank. Hmmmm. I'm no handy man...

The picture shows the horn and the relay in front of the oil radiator. Is that a good idea? I thought that putting anything in front of the radiator will easily add degrees to the oil temperature -- I've heard that relocating the stock horn, for example, is a good idea for it obstructs the radiator somewhat.

What other location can be used, in for a penny in for a pound...

Thanks again.

Taking off the tank really isn't hard just the bolt at the rear after you get the dash off, then the tank slides back a little and reach up under the right front and pull the hose off. First undue the fuel line before you start this. Now like in the picture above where his bracket is like about 6:00 clock position, I mounted mine at about 11:00. There is a little piece like a tab sitting right beside the hole where the bracket mounts to the frame that would prevent you mounting it at the 12:00 putting it a lot higher to the Y on the frame and missing most of the radiator.

The wiring kit is all you need. Use the horn bracket and AI pump bracket under tank to attach relay. The horn will sit high enough and far enough from the oil cooler and will not impact its cooling ability. Horn works great. Similar to the hand held air horns you buy in a can. I snuck up on a couple friends of my wife who were walking on the road when I gave the horn a quick burst...they are not to friendly anymore :-) !!

Good. That's a relief. Since I had the AI removed will I find a AI pump bracked under the tanks?

I'll search the archive for the procedure to remove the tank... that's going to be fun... almost.

Thanks again.

It's also a good idea to put a hose from the air intake of
the horn to under the tank.

So far I've scared:
2 Deer, and many SUV drivers that want to be in my lane!

I looked in the vault and it looks like to remove the tank you have to remove the front seat and to remove the front seat you have to remove the back seat? Am I reading that right? Sounds weird. Also to remove the battery cover you have to remove the air filter cover?

IF so, that's a lot of d**** work.

I've never touched my America other than spray lube on the chain. Maybe I should get an aerosol horn... I may have to buy special tools as well...

Perhaps my mechanic can help...

Taking the seat off isn't hard. one 8 mm socket for the back seat. Lift and remove. One 12mm socket to get the front one off. Then you are looking at the top of the air box and the air filter cover. I haven't had sides on mine for a while so I'm no help there.

Where abouts are you located, there maybe someone near you that could give you a hand. When you do it, you learn a little more about the bike. Its not hard as it seems after its done. Phil

Thank you for the encouragement. It's just a first time thing. I fix the family bicycles and I am not totally useless, I'll give it a try next week, I hope I can put everything together fine if I chicken out, the fuel like is just a pull out job, right?

I admire you DIY guys who take the engine apart and stuff. I do the same with guitars and computers, but the mechanics stuff is daunting to me.

Cheers

J

If you can fix a bicycle, and tune a guitar, you can work on these bikes.
Heck, I'm a drummer, and I just did the 12k valve adjust.

I put mine where the air box used to be. This is a good location with lots of room for those who have removed their airbox. And the horn and all the wireing is out of site and mind.

Phew! I'm almost finish installing the Stebel.

Not a plug-and-play proposition.

Even with the wiring kit, it's a big job for just a bloody horn.

Take off rear seat, front seat, instrument panel on the gas tank, fuel line, gas tank, air filter chrome cover, air-filter plastic cover, batter cover... just for starters.

Then the horn bracket does not quite fit the new horn, file and file away until it does, and then bend it 90 degrees.

I pried back the little protuberance on the frame horn attachment so that I can turn the original bracket 180 degrees and mount it at 12 o'clock. It's the only way it hangs clear of the oil filter, which should not be obstructed. But now the horn air feed faces forward contrary to instructions. Trip to the Home Depot to get some rubber tubing to attach to the air intake and route it under the seat. And while you are there get a screw and nut that will fit the horn and bracket hole. Get some electrician's black tape also to tidy up all the cables and things.

I started this morning and I haven't quite finished yet, had to break several times as life intervened and for meals, etc.

I hope it's worth it. The horn is not expensive but it is in time to get the bloody thing installed.

The silver lining is that I know my bike better now. Not that I will be doing any engine work any time soon but it's good to see how things hang together. Looks like excellent British engineering to my eyes...

Thanks for all the help from you guys, I hope to wake up my neighborhood tomorrow as I connect the blasted thing and put it all back together...

Cheers.



Then crimp terminators onto cables.

Quote:

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The silver lining is that I know my bike better now. Not that I will be doing any engine work any time soon but it's good to see how things hang together. Looks like excellent British engineering to my eyes...

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That's worth the time right there.

I notice that some have bolted through the top hole on the Stebel mount and made an "L" bracket. I used the side mount (slot) and used the original flat bracket with the horn at 12 o'clock. It made the install easier, but I'm concerned about things loosening up. I'll have to check periodically to make sure the horn doesn't loosen and fall off. Anybody had that happen?

And I did test it inside a closed garage. My hearing should return soon...

I am also concerned about it getting loose. I'm going back to the Home Depot to get some blue Loctite.

I am still at it. The wiring kit consists of red blue and black cables and a red fuse cable that must go to the battery positive pole but it's rather short, so unless you go to the Home Depot yet again and get a piece of the same gage copper wire and solder it to extend it you are forced to put the relay under the seat. Problem is there is nowhere under the seat to mount it. So I had to drill a hole on the tail end of the frame near the tank screw, but careful, now you have iron filings all around the engine AIR INTAKE... Run for the vacuum and suck every bit out.

I put a rubber tube for the air intake but the adapter that joins it to the horn needs to be glued or else it will fall out.

In addition... The original bracket has a couple of rubber washers at the horn end; when you remove them, as you must, it's no longer a hole but a fork. Back to the vice -- lucky if you have one -- to hammer the two fork prongs together to that the screw you fix the horn to the bracket with won't fit between them. Now the bent bracket shows stress lines. Will it crack?

I now got a new bracket from the locks section of Home Depot and I will try if that will work better. I will have to rust-proof it, naturally.

Most of this may sound dumb to the experienced DIYer but IT IS a neophyte's experience and I suffer the embarrassment gladly if it can help other neophytes out there.

I still have to find out if the cables will reach the horn, and then since I don't want red and white cables showing along the frame -- since Triumph took such great care to conceal their cables -- and will have to wrap the whole think in black tape.

I don't have to wait for the end of this saga to tell you that I REGRET buying this horn. I know that its "beautiful" sound will endure and this rotten experience will be forgotten -- I hope -- but my recommendation is to look for something else. Fewer decibels if you must, but easier to install is definitely the way to go, unless you enjoy pain and inconvenience.

Patience, it'll work out. I didn't want to splice any wire either, so I stuck my relay under the seat. I took off the plastic shroud for the other wiring under there and shoved as much of the white wire as I could underneath. The heavier gauge red wire and fuse holder went alongside (next to the frame rail). I didn't bother mounting the relay as I figured it's not going anywhere. After I test fit the wires and made sure everything worked, I unplugged the red and white wires and snaked them alongside the bike's original wiring using the same tie-wraps. The red was a little tight, so I had to try a few different routes. The horn itself, I just mounted to the original bracket, replacing one of the steel washers with a larger one to fit the Stebel bolt and used a lock washer to hopefully keep it all intact (your idea of the loc-tite is a good one). I shortened the black wire to about 8" and attached it directly to the horn bracket.

You may not feel like it right now, but the first time you use that new horn, you'll be glad you did.

I'd been putting it off for a while and just planned my morning around the horn and AI removal - then took a calming ride after.

Well, it's done. I could not end it without another screw-up.

I had mounted the relay so neatly - I even drilled a hole there - where the seat lug engages the frame. Gee. There is no other place to fix it and I was afraid that if I mount it the seat my not fit, so I taped it as inconspicuously as I could in a corner. Seems to work.

The new bracket I used puts the horn about an inch higher than the original bracket. It is still a bit in front of the radiator but it's much better.

I hope the clear plastic tube for the air intake doesn't melt under the tank. I see the tank has some heat shields. I ran the tube short in front of the left tank support. Not above the engine but still close. It must get hot there. We'll see...

Now I tested the horn and it works.

Actually, it blew the legs of a donkey that was passing by --
hapless animal, poor thing.

I will scare a few cagers off my path, I suppose, but their reaction won't be pleasant I expect. Better alive than popular, I guess.

There must be a good horn that's easier than this...

I'll probably be installing a Nautilus this weekend. I did a fit check yesterday and the stock location did look promising, but the only concern I had about that was blocking airflow to the oil cooler. Any problems with overheating?

Flip the bracket up to about 11:00 position and it sits high enough so it doesn't block the oil cooler.