Anybody mount the Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual-Tone horn where the OEM horn is? Or tried? :). See below.

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/2137/652/ (http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/2137/652/)

I know there is additional wiring and a relay, but I am concerned about the mounting hardware. There seems to plenty of mounting bracket options listed on above link - various sizes of straights, L's, and clamps. But I have NFI which will work best on Versys and haven't found a fitting chart.

A couple of guys on the UK Versys forum have installed the horn...u could probably get some info from them...;)

Hi from UK
Plenty of UK riders fitted the Stebel horn,generally considered to big/ugly to replace stock unit,so an alternative location found under left tank fairing,seems to fit a treat.see UK Versys forum for info.
I myself was stuffed as have a Scotoiler fitted under fairing so fitted two small stebel horns in fron of rad,replacing OEM as per your idea. Certainly loud,frightened a lady driver on a blind country lane last week,when I got round the corner she was half way in the hedge,must have thought a truck was coming round!Need to beef up wiring and fit a relay ,no problem though.
see pics at www.picasaweb.google.co.uk/stuartbull1

Cheers Twohoots

I was doing some research on mounting a Steble horn and ran across your posting. I checked out your photos on the link you had attached and noticed your hand guards. Where did your purchase them? Also, I am in the market for a bigger wind screen and saw that you have the wind screen that Kawi sells. How do you like it? How tall are you and what setting do you have the wind screen on?

Hi Hillyan
Handguards are KTM,fit straight on,however watch the bar ends (see this link
http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1799#post1799)
purchsed online in UK cannot remember where.
vario windscreen is fine,nothing to compare it with really (first bike with a screen)works well,have it at high setting.

Are you going to fit the smaller Stebel horns as I did? work great, really loud ,though probably not as loud as the Nautilus.Dont forget you will have to "beef" up the wiring and fit a relay,then you can use the std horn button to operate it.

Good luck

Twohoots

I put the stebel nautilus on right at the OEM location. I had to put a large fender washer behind the holder because it looked like the stock washer could slip through. It works fine for me. I've had it on about 1000 miles so far and it's as tight as when I installed it.

Web bike world or whatever that site is called claimed they had like 4 or 5 bad Stebel horns in a row. I'm thinking OE here (Operator Error; no relay, not installed correctly etc). Anybody else have any issues? Looks like a cool mod, if they last.

I put the WOLO Bad Boy (appears to be the same horn) on a couple of months ago. Rode in the rain several times. It is still working very well. I had the same one on my KLR for a year and it always worked.

Yeah, I'm a mechanic, and anytime I see somebody bitching about having multiple "bad" parts I immediately think OE.

I put the WOLO Bad Boy (appears to be the same horn) on a couple of months ago. Rode in the rain several times. It is still working very well. I had the same one on my KLR for a year and it always worked.

I bought one of these from Harbor Freight using a 15% off coupon. You can normally find coupons at dealnews.com and other bargain shopping sites.

I have yet to mount it. Going on vacation saturday and when I get back will have a big farklethon.

Les, DFW

I was doing some research on mounting a Steble horn and ran across your posting. I checked out your photos on the link you had attached and noticed your hand guards. Where did your purchase them? Also, I am in the market for a bigger wind screen and saw that you have the wind screen that Kawi sells. How do you like it? How tall are you and what setting do you have the wind screen on?

Service and wind screen great from this web page. Purchased another windscreen for a different bike and same terrific experience. http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Versysprod.html

Also, have BMW hand guards installed that work great with a few minor modifications.

Never had a problem with mine. I haven't had to use it but once and it shocked the cage driver into dropping her cell phone :yeahsmile: I do use it pretty often to beep (blast?) Hi to people and it has always worked.

I fitted my Stebel Compact Nautilus last night.

I was not overly excited about fitting it in the left cowling as others have done. It looked to me like I would need to fab up a decent bracket to keep the horn stable and off of the air sensor. Instead, I decided to split the horn into it's two components (compressor and black part).

I installed the compressor in the right side of the headlight bracket and the black part in the left side. I ran a bit of vacuum hose between the compressor outlet and black part inlet, using a vacuum hose fitting and RTV gasket compound to make the connection to the black part.

I disconnected the leads to the OEM horn and rerouted them to use to trigger the new relay for the Stebel. For a clean installation, I cut the electrical tape on the factory harness to free the two leads and then retaped both sets of wires. It pretty much looks factory for that part. I rerouted the horn wires forward through the various wire guides. The length was perfect to reach all the way to the right side of the headlight.

I rerouted the left city light wire just a bit to clean up what looked like goofy factory routing. This opened up a convent bolt hole that I used as a mount point for the horn relay. I modified a leftover L-bracket from a previous bike and secured the relay right next to the Stebel compressor.

The whole job took a few hours, but that's because I was trying to figure out mount points, modify brackets and so forth. When I do that kind of stuff I generally work at a snail's pace to avoid screwing something up. If I were doing it for a second time, the actual work involved would probably only take an hour, including all of the wire fitting, shrink tubing and so forth.

I took a few pics but I don't have them available for upload yet. I will add to the thread later tonight.

Ooooh nice idea CHris! I was going to install my Wolo tomorrow so- this is timely.

I was going to use the regular horn leads for the relay like wot u did.

The instructions say you have to use a relay for motorbike install.

Les

Les, just to be clear, I did use a relay as instructed. I used the horn wires on posts 85 and 86 for the trigger. I wired the feed from the fuseblock to post 30, with post 87 out to the positive terminal on the Stebel. The only other wire is the ground off of the Stebel negative terminal.

The horn pulls a surprising amount of juice from what I'm told, so it will overwhelm the circuit if the factory leads are just plugged straight into the horn. I have heard of folks doing this, and I think it does work, but I think it's asking for trouble.

Not sure if that's what you meant, but just thought it might save you some headaches or worse :eek:.

Good luck with the install.

Yes I was going thru a relay - got one of those little Panasonics from Eastern Beaver I want to try. I like your idea of separating the two elements - pump/horns

Yes I was going thru a relay - got one of those little Panasonics from Eastern Beaver I want to try. I like your idea of separating the two elements - pump/horns

Les, I'd love to claim the idea for separating the pieces 'cause it really is the way to go in my opinion. As these things often go, though, I stole that idea shamelessly from someone on another forum. I think it was one of my KLR forums where I first heard of the idea. I had a Stebel on my KLR and considered separating it then, but I figured out a good way to mount it without separating. I was a little hesitant to wrestle the pump apart, but it came apart quite easily once I saw how it was held.

Those relays from Eastern Beaver are really awesome. I ordered a few to replace some headlight relays on my KLR. The harness already had the correct plug, so like a dummy I did not order any plugs. Now I have a waterproof relay that I can use or at least can't use as it was intended.

Not to highjack the thread any further, but have you used any of the Posi-lock or Posi-tap products that he sells. They are really sweet.

Okay, back to the Stebel discussion. Sorry for the tangents. :D

Here are some pictures of mine, I left the stock horn hooked up . I used the stock wiring to trigger the relay. Pictures show the location of the relay and how the horn is mounted.

I put a small piece of foam between the tank and the horn to keep from rattling. It makes plenty of noise even under the cowling. The bracket is easy to make.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj54/waealjack/versyshorn006.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj54/waealjack/versyshorn004.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj54/waealjack/versyshorn003.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj54/waealjack/versyshorn002.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj54/waealjack/versyshorn001.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj54/waealjack/versyshorn005.jpg

August, if I had seen those pictures yesterday I would never have even attempted my way. That's a good job and a heck of a lot simpler than my way.

Good pics for anyone poking around later on for their own install. :thumb:

I've had mine on in the regular horn area for about 30,000 miles. It has helped me many times. Just last week on the hwy as I was passing an 18 wheeler in the left lane, he started to come into my lane as he wanted to pass the car in front of him. As I moved to the left I also hit the big horn and he went back into his lane. LOUD helps, but some people don't care about how loud a horn is, they are coming no matter what.

Once the relay connection got loose and I had to push it back in.

August, consider what the warning is on that horn if you install it upside down like you did.

Per the manufacturer, this horn should be mounted so that the cylinder is vertical (with the horn facing down). There should be no more than a 15 degree variance from the vertical position. If it is not mounted per these specifications, then the horn may cease to function after a period of time.

I agree that August has found a good spot to hide it... but... isn't that horn just blasting in your ear??

And regarding the mfrs directions. I installed a FIAMM on me old TransAlp and I thought (smart) that I should aim it up at the cagers. SO the first time I am out in the rain and a car tries to cut me off I wail on the horn and all I get is a cartoon wet fart noise! Water had filled the trumpet. Probably the same deal with these nautilusses - nautilusi....

I've had mine on in the regular horn area for about 30,000 miles. It has helped me many times. Just last week on the hwy as I was passing an 18 wheeler in the left lane, he started to come into my lane as he wanted to pass the car in front of him. As I moved to the left I also hit the big horn and he went back into his lane. LOUD helps, but some people don't care about how loud a horn is, they are coming no matter what.

Once the relay connection got loose and I had to push it back in.

August, consider what the warning is on that horn if you install it upside down like you did.

Per the manufacturer, this horn should be mounted so that the cylinder is vertical (with the horn facing down). There should be no more than a 15 degree variance from the vertical position. If it is not mounted per these specifications, then the horn may cease to function after a period of time.

I don't think I remember every seeing those particular instructions. If I had, I might have done something different.

At any rate, I have had the horn for quite awhile now, and it has never failed to work and is easily heard by other traffic. It is kind of loud for me, but not to the point of being hurtful to my ears.

I think the vertical position could be either end up. The reason for the horn to be down, would be to let any water run out. So far, I have not had any water get in the horn, and I have ridden through a couple of frog stranglers.

I also have the same horn on my C-14, mounted in the same position, and have had no issues with it not working either (knock on wood).

I do use them alot when just riding out on the open road where no one can hear, just to make sure they still work, so they get some regular workouts.

Regards August

atgatt,
What braket do I need to mount it in the regular horn position?
How does it look there?

atgatt,
What braket do I need to mount it in the regular horn position?
How does it look there?

I used the OEM bracket, bent it a bit in a vise and used a stack of washers to push the horn far enough forward so the tupperware lower fit.

A great place for the horn relay is inside the frame tube that's under the tupperware. A wrap around with electrical tape and it slides in there snug.

Well, I decided on a different location for my Stebel Nautilus.
Fabricated a mount to fit the stock mount holes on the right
side of the engine. Ran wiring to the stock horn location
to trigger the relay. Used a 20 Amp CB to supply power to
the horn. Had to remove much of the cowling to route the
black loom-encased wiring. (If you saw the tiny spring inside
the horn button you would never consider using the stock
wiring to trigger anything heavier than a relay). Mounted
the relay and CB under the seat, tucked all the wiring in
neatly and tried it out on my cats. They eventually came
back to check out daddy's bike...

atgatt,
What braket do I need to mount it in the regular horn position?
How does it look there?

It has been a while but I think I did it similar to what Bones did.

I also added a tie-wrap or two to keep the horn more stable.

Hi V Bikers,

Mounted my nautilus below the fork brace as pictured.
IMHO, this lets the horn blast forward to let it be heard better.
Thought of putting it at the previous horn location but that will let the horn get dirty fast.
Horn was about US$ 30 and workmanship/wires/etc about US$12.
Used the brake lining holder bolt to mount the nautilus.

Did this after having a collision with a dog. All ok but the previous horn was not loud enough.
Tested it and :thumb: and :eek:


Ride Fast and Safe.:thumb:

And that doesn't limit your fork travel???

Nope, as if I am not mistaken, the V has an upside down fork.
Have tried it so far with braking, no issues.
The horn remains at the same position. Cheers..

The Stebel horn is such a huge piece to try and place. I guess I join the under the left fairing crew. I also had to make up a bracket and mount the horn using a 2 1/4" hose clamp. I trimmed the cosmetic plastic part with the turn signal on it, to stuff the horn trumpet thru. It wails pretty good.

Gordon

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9817/versysairhornb.jpg
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7111/versysairhornc.jpg
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/927/versysairhornd.jpg

I ended up just putting it in the stock position. It looks fine and sounds great!

I had my Stebel mounted on the Left Front radiator bolt located at the bottom of the radiator... BAD IDEA!! I had to make an abroupt stop and the "L" bracket I purchased at the hardware store (another bad idea) broke, my horn flew off and cracked my front finder. Nothing a little Bond-O coulden't fix, but you can imagine how bad it could have been if the horn fell off while driving and if I were to run over it or something.
I now have the horn mounted on the OEM bracket. It just took a little elbow grease to bend the bracket in a way as to make the horn fit and mount the horn parallel to the ground. I also had to use a piece of bike tubing wraped around the mounting point on the horn clamped down w/ a hose clap. No issues yet and it's on there pretty solid now. I can post a PIC if anyone is interested.

I can post a PIC if anyone is interested.

please do so :)

Remember to keep the horn within 15° of vertical.
Also consider you may want to replace the stock
horn if you ever sell the bike. I always keep my
stock horns in ziplocks, labeled with vehicle so
they can go back on some day. Just a thought.

Alrighty, finished mounting mine under the left fairing and getting it wired up tonight.

OHHOLYHELL is this thing loud. I can't wait to try it out on my first idiot in front of me. :devil:

I darn near thought the left fairing was going to blow clean off the bike when I hit the button for the first time. Take my word for it if you don't have one on your V... it is LOUD! :D

Yes-sir, it's loud. Sometimes I ride w/o ear plugs and when I have to use my horn, my ears get blasted too.

Hi from UK
Plenty of UK riders fitted the Stebel horn,generally considered to big/ugly to replace stock unit,so an alternative location found under left tank fairing,seems to fit a treat.see UK Versys forum for info.
I myself was stuffed as have a Scotoiler fitted under fairing so fitted two small stebel horns in fron of rad,replacing OEM as per your idea. Certainly loud,frightened a lady driver on a blind country lane last week,when I got round the corner she was half way in the hedge,must have thought a truck was coming round!Need to beef up wiring and fit a relay ,no problem though.
see pics at www.picasaweb.google.co.uk/stuartbull1

Cheers Twohoots
had a good giggle at this, i'm sure the lady driver will recover from her shock and you had a safe passage through a blind bend, now that is a result!! it is the reason i have bought the nautilus for my V, next time a Golf GTI with the stereo a little too high drifts into my lane i will be able to get through to the drivers ear drum!!!

I got my Stebel from this ebay seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290555658147

It comes with a harness, relay and everything you need. I put one on the KLX250 I used to have. It worked great. I have another one for the V. I'll be adding it soon. I used the large washer trick another poster mentioned on my KLX and had no problem. I'll do the same with the V. :D