Stebel Electromagnetic Horns

[bwringer]

got mine and installed them yesterday. they sound nice, but sometimes both won't fire. i'm not sure if i just don't have enough voltage or if there is a grounding issue. I'm gonna completly rewire them to the battery and use a relay, i was trying to short cut by using the origional wiring.

Yah, a relay is the only way to get these to fire reliably.

I discovered almost by accident that Advance Auto Parts sells a very nice sealed 40AMP relay with a metal mounting tab over by the fog lights for $4. They sell a junky plastic unsealed 30A relay for $6 in the electrical section of the store. Strange.

Whatever else you do in life, heed this advice -- do NOT take apart the switch on your handlebar in an attempt to clean the horn switch. Trust me on this. Tiny springs and mysterious parts fly everywhere.


Here's another question -- what's the loudest single horn about the same size of the originals that money can buy? On my GS, there's plenty of room for these Stebels or for the air horn version, but on my VX, there's only room for a horn very close to the original size unless I put it on some goofy stalk or something. Plus, the V-twin vibration could be an issue for a larger horn, or one with moving parts.

[PaulC]

Yah, a relay is the only way to get these to fire reliably.

I discovered almost by accident that Advance Auto Parts sells a very nice sealed 40AMP relay with a metal mounting tab over by the fog lights for $4. They sell a junky plastic unsealed 30A relay for $6 in the electrical section of the store. Strange.

Whatever else you do in life, heed this advice -- do NOT take apart the switch on your handlebar in an attempt to clean the horn switch. Trust me on this. Tiny springs and mysterious parts fly everywhere.


Here's another question -- what's the loudest single horn about the same size of the originals that money can buy? On my GS, there's plenty of room for these Stebels or for the air horn version, but on my VX, there's only room for a horn very close to the original size unless I put it on some goofy stalk or something. Plus, the V-twin vibration could be an issue for a larger horn, or one with moving parts.

Stebel Nautilus Compact is a "bit" larger than stock and is supposed to be 139db but has moving parts. Which is why I went w/ the horn I did - no moving parts and "close" to stock in size. It may not be the loudest but it is definitely as loud or louder than a lot of car horns.

[Tazman001]

Horn the original size

Bwringer asked

Here's another question -- what's the loudest single horn about the same size of the originals that money can buy?

I'm gonna try the Hella Supertones on my GS1150, which is my next project. Not in a single horn, they come in pairs. They are about the same shape and size as the original. They also claim 118dB at 6' away. Enough to make some seniors cr@p their shorts when they forget to stop at those stop signs. lol

[Imreallycrazy]

I know I'm grave digging here, and I apologize for that but this seems to be the most recent topic. So here's my Question.

I just purchased one of those compact air horns designed for motorcycles, From what I am reading I definitely need to wire through the provided relay. Can I still use my existing horn button or will I need to wire a push button up? I'd rather hook into the existing system since this horn is to replace the dying goose that is on there now.
Any info and/or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your time!

Ben

[J_C]

Ben, you can hook it in, I think what I did was run one of the existing horn wires to the relay instead of the horn. It was really easy to do.

[Imreallycrazy]

Ben, you can hook it in, I think what I did was run one of the existing horn wires to the relay instead of the horn. It was really easy to do.

So just run the power wires that connect to the current horn to the relay, and then go from the relay to the new horn? Sorry, electronics confuse me REALLY easily!

Thanks for your time!

Ben

[J_C]

No problem, I'm just trying to remember how I did it. Bike is stored for now until next month when I finish my final exams. Plus, I'm about as bad at this electrical stuff as anyone.

I believe what I did was reroute (maybe lengthen?) the wire from the horn button. It comes out of the button and into the loom and then splits into two wires, one for each horn. I think what I did was reroute them so instead of going to the horns they came backwards towards the battery. One I just zip tied in place, and the other I added more wire so it could reach back to under the seat. That I plugged it into the trigger switch part of the relay. I also ran a wire from the battery, through an inline fuse, and into the relay. then I have a wire from the relay going to the horn. There may be a fourth wire to the relay, I dont remember.

Unfortunately Matchless' diagram, which I used, is no longer online.

[seuadr]

on your 4 pin relay, there are.. well.. 4 pins. two of them are shown as the actual switch ( if you look at the side, it will be a solid line with a break in it ) and two are shown to be the coil that activates the switch.



should look something like that. you will run the power line ( fused, ideally with a 30 amp inline fuse ) to the switch, and out to the horn. your old horn wires would be connected to coil side of the relay. that way, when you hit the horn ubtton, it will engage the coil, closing the switch, causing the horn to honk.

on the diagram above, 30 and 87 are the switch (ignore 87a if you have it) and 86 and 85 are the coil. i grounded the horns seperatly straight back to the battery (not through the relay)

those numbers are accurate for most automotive relays.

[bwringer]

Yup, that's how it's done. The instructions that come with the horn are very clear.

I installed a Stebel Nautilus (rebranded as a Wolo Bad Boy from Harbor Freight -- these horns are sold under a variety of goofy names) on my GS850, and WOW, is it ever pants-crappingly loud!

Dogs hide, children cry, and soccer moms swerve (gotta watch out for that).

Big fun, but it also serves a serious purpose in the city. Now I wouldn't want to ride across town without a gawdawful loud horn like this.

Out in the country, it's also quite handy for diverting dogs.

[oshanac]

Stebel horns are awesome. I had their compact air horn model on my old bike, VERY FUNNY to see people that "didn't see you on the bike" **** themselves (almost) when they HEAR YOU! Well worth the $60!

[demark]

Stebel horns are awesome. I had their compact air horn model on my old bike, VERY FUNNY to see people that "didn't see you on the bike" **** themselves (almost) when they HEAR YOU! Well worth the $60!

Last year I had my inspection done at a local motorsports company. They just moved into a nice new, large building. One quarter of the building was the garage, the rest was retail. The sides of the building are divided by several walls.

So me and my buddy, who also was getting his inspection, were walking around the store, chit-chatting while waiting for the inspections to complete. We were on the far side of the store when we were startled by the blast of an air horn.

My Stebel air horn.

From the other side of the building.

I just smiled and sorta felt sorry for the guy doing the inspection.

When we were paying, I turned to my buddy and said "Funny, I didn't hear them test your horn."

[Larry D]

Last week myself and bwringer installed a Wolo Bad boy on my bike. And yes, that baby is LOUD !! Thanks to Brian's experience in installing these, he did the wiring. I think this is the third or fourth one he's done for folks. The most difficult part was figuring out how and where to mount it up. We made a little mounting bracket and put it on the front of the frame, well above the headers to avoid the heat.

I used it this morning for it's intended purpose (instead of the enjoyment of scaring kids while they're playing in the yard) as a cage tried to pull over in my lane a little to close to me. A nice blast of the "Jesus horn" had his attention and he moved back over promptly. I gave him the evil stare as I passed by. I'm sure he was wondering "where did that 18 wheeler come from ?"

Although one is never "safe" while riding, I feel better knowing that horn is there to use when needed.

[DanTheMan]

I bought a pair of "Blazer" horns at the local Fleet Farm store (they can be found in advance Auto, Checker, etc. as well) for about $25.00. I put them on my Jeep as well as on my bike. They're made in Italy and are very loud, but don't give their db rating. They come with the plastic cased 30amp relay as well. I use them to wake up inattentive drivers and they also work quite well to scare the large 4 legged vermin that roam the roads around here that we lovingly call "deer".
They also draw a lot of power, when I energize them, my voltmeter will drop from 13+ volts down below 12. Mine are wired with the original horn wiring through the fuse block where the horn fuse is located.