Stebel horns to replace OEM

[Tony1M]

The horns on our bike are pathetic. I've put off replacing them, but the other day I really wanted to give someone a blast, so now is the time to replace the OEM horns.

 

I've done a seach and read several good threads about how to wire Stebel air and electromagnetic horns.

 

I'd like to go electro because I think they may be easier to install than the nautilus. Please tell me if I'm wrong on that.

 

I'm seriously considering putting these on our 84 VR:

http://www.bikerhiway.com/stebel-magnum-motorcycle-horns-dual-tone-chrome-p-280.html

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/chromehorns.jpg

 

Any first gen folks have these on their bike? If so, what do you think of them? Will they fit on the same brackets where the OEM horns are? (That is, can you just remove the OEM horns and install the new ones on the very same OEM brackets?)

 

If you have these on your bike, please post some photos of your installation.

 

Thanks for any information.

 

 

 

Tony

 

[MiCarl]

That 30 amp relay is a pretty good hint that you'll need to provide a bigger power source than the stock wiring, just like with air horns.

 

By the dimensions they seem to be quite a bit larger (and probably heavier) than stock horns. Decent chance the stock brackets won't work.

 

No way to tell from the pictures if the included brackets are long enough to work on a Venture. What you might be able to do is bend them so the horns are swept back at 30 degrees or so. I did this with my first Wolo installation and I think it was quite a bit nicer than having them stick way out.

[6m459]

I have a pair similar to these on my bikes:

 

http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/imageserver.x/00000000/safevehicleproducts/CP2.JPG

 

Bought them on Ebay from this guy. Seems like a good guy and they arrived fast and well packed.

 

They get attention. (In fact people see them and ask to hear them.)

 

I have them in the same location as the stock horns. One horn is shorter than the other, I mounted the compressor behind the shorter one on the RHS of the bike. I used a heavy duty bracket from a local hardware store to mount it. The longer horn has the LHS all to itself on a lighter gauge bracket. I bought some extra air hose and ran a line over from RHS to LHS through just below the fuel fill cup. I have run that way a couple of years now no probs.

 

Hope this is useful.

 

Brian H.

[camos]

I'm seriously considering putting these on our 84 VR:

http://www.bikerhiway.com/stebel-magnum-motorcycle-horns-dual-tone-chrome-p-280.html

 

Any first gen folks have these on their bike? If so, what do you think of them? Will they fit on the same brackets where the OEM horns are? (That is, can you just remove the OEM horns and install the new ones on the very same OEM brackets?)

 

If you have these on your bike, please post some photos of your installation.

I have the Stebel Magnums on my Virago. They are plastic and do not weigh very much. I'm going to assume I have the stock horns in their original position on my VR and there should be no problem installing the Magnums in their place. I'm planning on putting some on this Winter.

 

Oh yes, they sound good and I like them.

Here is a pic of them on my Virago:

http://viragotechforum.com/phpBB/album_pic.php?pic_id=5278

Edited August 9, 2009 by camos

[stuckonstupid]

Hi guys

 

Just thought I'd let you know where you can get them a whole lot cheaper. I bought the electro's and the nautilus air horns, just haven't decided which ones I'll use. I'll probably use the electros on the Venture and the air horns on an old Powerwagon....Just thinkin

 

Anyways, I found a guy that was selling all different kinds of Stebels and for about half price and He's a decent guy. Quick shipping or if you live in Denver, Houston or can meet him in Oakley KS. He'll meet you... save on shipping....which I did. Just so you know.

 

Here's the link: www.kalmari.ecrater.com

 

his name is Michael

 

Cheers

[Caveman]

I just bought my stebel from Michael and installed it. First rate buissness, quick shipping and well packaged. carl:thumbsup2:

[Tony1M]

Thanks for the information, guys!

 

Unless somebody posts real soon that the nautilus is easily installed on a first gen., I'll be ordering the Magnums to replace our OEMs.

 

Thanks again.

[Rocket]

Thanks for the information, guys!

 

Unless somebody posts real soon that the nautilus is easily installed on a first gen., I'll be ordering the Magnums to replace our OEMs.

 

Thanks again.

 

I put the Nautilus on mine & Friesman1's scoots (83 & 85). I installed them, on the left side horn mount.

[Tony1M]

I put the Nautilus on mine & Friesman1's scoots (83 & 85). I installed them, on the left side horn mount.

 

Rocket, thanks for the information.

 

Do you have any photos of the nautilus on the bike?

 

Did you have to replace the OEM straight mounting bracket?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

Tony

 

[Rocket]

Rocket, thanks for the information.

 

Do you have any photos of the nautilus on the bike?

 

Did you have to replace the OEM straight mounting bracket?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

Tony

 

I don't, maybe Friesman1 does. I did not use it, just the angled bracket for the frame mount. Use an auto parts metric bolt (13mm head), put the bracket in a vise if possible & wind the horn into place, as it needs to be mounted tight. Then re-install the bracket & horn, start wiring up the relay.

[Tony1M]

I don't, maybe Friesman1 does. I did not use it, just the angled bracket for the frame mount. Use an auto parts metric bolt (13mm head), put the bracket in a vise if possible & wind the horn into place, as it needs to be mounted tight. Then re-install the bracket & horn, start wiring up the relay.

 

Thanks, Rocket!

 

[Tony1M]

I installed the two Stebel Magnum horns yesterday.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/leftfront.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/Driverlefthorn.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/Driverrighthorn.jpg

 

I easily installed each horn on the OEM brackets and wired the ground from each horn to the rubber-insulated bolt at each lower side of the radiator directly behind the silver-colored trim piece that is just behind each horn. (I have since determined that one could probably wire the ground right under the nut that secures the horn to the OEM bracket. Whether this would look neater than the way I have it now is debatable.)

 

I pulled the two wires from each of the OEM horns up close to the battery , connected the like-colored wires to each other in parallel and installed a single female connector on each pair, then connected those two to the relay's low-current terminals that energize the relay's electromagnet.

 

I then connected one end of an in-line fuse-holder to the positive battery terminal and the other to the parallel-linked 12-gauge positive wires that go to the horns.

 

Right now, the relay is just dangling in the breeze near the battery box. The four wires connected to it seem to hold it in position adequately. I'll mount it more sturdily of something comes loose.

 

Anyway, even though we were prepared for something loud, I just about scared the living s..t out of my wife and I the first time I pushed the horn button. These horns are very very loud - much louder than the horn on our Honda Accord that is parked right next to the bike in the garage. There is no doubt whatsoever that our new horns are going to make the drivers of any vehicles on the road around us sit (jump) up and take notice if I should decide that someone needs to know where our bike is.

 

Ironically to me, my wife thinks that our horn may actually cause an accident if a driver loses control of his vehicle because of the scare.

 

I suggested that trucks typically have very loud horns and that they don't seem to cause accidents, but I'm not really sure if they do or they don't. I just take comfort in the fact that when people hear very loud noises, they tend to move away from the source of the noise ("Tremors", 1990 ).

 

OTOH, if someone is gingerly taking sips of very hot coffee as he/she drives down the road, when I hit that horn, , there's no telling what might happen to the coffee and, therefore, the driver's control over his vehicle.

 

To any others who might be considering replacing their bike's OEM horns for something much louder, please give these babies some serious consideration. They are LOUD!

[Dano]

I use the $30 WOLO "BadBoyz" air horn from Autozone, works just perfect and mounts easy. Definately gets everybodies attention!

[Tony1M]

I bought our horns from a person named Garret at this place:

http://www.stebelengineeredsounds.com/main.html

Garret is a fantastic guy to deal with. He responds to queries very quickly.

 

He will ship to Canadian buyers using US Post, even though the company generally uses UPS. I had the horns in hand almost exactly a week after placing the order. (For Canadians ordering from the US, this is more than acceptable.)

 

Because of my own experience, I highly recommend this place, especially for Canadians.