Stebel Air Horn - Post Season Review

[KanadianKen]

Sebspeed asked me to check the horn install I did on my bike in the spring, to see if there was any "surprises" that I might not have noticed.

I just took the biek out, and had a close look. Everything looks great. No rub marks on any lines, the horn is still tight into the bracket, alls good.

Heres a bunch of pictures - more for Seb to get anidea of how it fits.

I go the Stebel off of Lobster, and he was kind enough to epoxy a screen over the output area, so that it wouldn't get filled up with crud.....

[Trace]

Just FYI to all out there....this doesn't work on a 5th Gen. I tried and tried and tried and tried and tried..... :huh:

[enzed_viffer]

Just FYI to all out there....this doesn't work on a 5th Gen. I tried and tried and tried and tried and tried..... :huh:

Yeah, I know that feeling. Never mind - my Invisible Fiamm Horn Installation seems to work OK. Not as loud as a Stebel perhaps, but better'n stock by a long chalk.

[thereisnospoon]

Seriously, someone needs to produce a 5th gen compliant Air Horn!

Just FYI to all out there....this doesn't work on a 5th Gen. I tried and tried and tried and tried and tried..... :huh:

[SEBSPEED]

Just FYI to all out there....this doesn't work on a 5th Gen. I tried and tried and tried and tried and tried..... :huh:

See!! The vtecs are better!! :lol:

Please don't take that seriously, anyone, I have no intentions of going there... ! :deer:

Thanks for the review Ken! Once I figure out if my triples are/aren't tweaked, I'll be doing this install! Now go wash your bike! Shame on you for putting her away like that. :P

[KanadianKen]

See!! The vtecs are better!! :lol:

Please don't take that seriously, anyone, I have no intentions of going there... ! :deer:

Thanks for the review Ken! Once I figure out if my triples are/aren't tweaked, I'll be doing this install! Now go wash your bike! :goofy: Shame on you for putting her away like that. :P

the bugs, and dragonfly's help keep her warm in the garage - no way I'm cleaning that stuff!! Bike is made to ride, not be a pretty garage queen.

Lemme know if you need any other pictures. ANy excuse to take her out is good for me!! :beer:

[Guest da9b20]

Seriously, someone needs to produce a 5th gen compliant Air Horn!

Why cant you install them on a 5th gen? no room?

[thereisnospoon]

Yeah, not enough space for it. Someone had one mounted under the rear faring near the reg/rect (or on the opposite side) but thats the only installation I've come across. It almost looks like there is enough room between the front headers and the engine but that may just be a figment. Some of the "driving" situations I've come across though I'd settle for having it taped on above the headlights.

Why cant you install them on a 5th gen? no room?

[Trace]

Yeah, not enough space for it. Someone had one mounted under the rear faring near the reg/rect (or on the opposite side) but thats the only installation I've come across. It almost looks like there is enough room between the front headers and the engine but that may just be a figment. Some of the "driving" situations I've come across though I'd settle for having it taped on above the headlights.

No room. It was me who mounted a Stebel under the right side tail fairing. It was muted by the fairing, and it was werid to have a horn behind you. So, I pulled it off and tried AGAIN to find a front location that wasn't in the way of the fairings (nope), the black center fairing (nope), the front fender under full stop compression (nope) or the lock-to-lock of the forks (nope). There just isn't any real estate up there for this nice Stebel horn. I wish there was, believe me!

So, I bought a set of Blasters, mounting one on a homemade bracket (simple steel bar bent to suit) and the other just forward of the right radiator where there's some space at the back end of the headlight fairing. Sounds pretty good.

[Guest da9b20]

So I am asking because I already got an air horn for my 5th gen. Can I cut down the horn, on the large side of the cone without taking away form the sound?

[Guest ex TZ tuner]

the bugs, and dragonfly's help keep her warm in the garage - no way I'm cleaning that stuff!! Bike is made to ride, not be a pretty garage queen.

Lemme know if you need any other pictures. ANy excuse to take her out is good for me!! :beer:

here here! :beer: :beer:

[Guest da9b20]

bump- Can I cut down the horn, on the large side of the cone without taking away form the sound? i dont know much about airhorns.

[Trace]

bump- Can I cut down the horn, on the large side of the cone without taking away form the sound? i dont know much about airhorns.

1) It's unlikely that you'll find anyone here that's cut up a horn and can give you a clear answer.

2) You can bet that Stebel (if that's what you're talking about) wouldn't have added anything to increase the size if they didn't think it was necessary. It's already pretty compact. If you have a Stebel or some other style of airhorn, it's a reasonable assumption that cutting that trumpet will change the tone.

3) The trumpet on any horn serves to deepen and richen the tone. Removing/changing the trumpet could make it more of an "air whistle" instead of an air horn, with a shriller sound. Of course, that might not be a bad thing at all if it really gets attention.

4) Having said all that, it's anyone's guess if triming the cone/trumpet thingy will change the sound very much.

5) Cut your horn up and report back, then we'll all know for sure!! :warranty:

[enzed_viffer]

bump- Can I cut down the horn, on the large side of the cone without taking away form the sound? i dont know much about airhorns.

It's unlikely that you'll find anyone here that's cut up a horn and can give you a clear answer.

I was tempted to cut a piece off the side of one of my horns to get it to fit, but luckily I didn't need to. However, while they do have trumpets, they're not airhorns. I doubt that it would have wrecked them or changed the tone, as they're basically the disk-type horns with a sort of plastic "snail shell" added to them.

[Beck]

Maybe the older air horn design with the separate air pump and trumpets might work better for a space defecient 5th gen. The horns are ususally small, thin and light plastic affairs that could be squeezed into tight spaces within the 5th gen's tight fairings. Supporting the light trumpet units should be very easy because it does not need heavy support brackets. In fact you might even just zip-tie the buggers on to anything solid enough. All you need to adjust is the legnth of the air tubes. The air pump unit should be small enough to find room for, somewhere in the near vicinity of the trumpets.

Regarding the Vtec and Stebel horns, I think you can even mount two of those Stebel units on a 6th gen, one under each of the fairing "boobs" , immediately above the radiators. That could make for a trian like sound to blast away those pesky Volvo Estate drivers.

Just a thought I'd like to share.....

Beck

95 VFR

Edited December 14, 2006 by Beck

[enzed_viffer]

.... , they're not airhorns. --- they're basically the disk-type horns with a sort of plastic "snail shell" added to them.

To me it was unclear from your post what brand of horn you are talking about.

True, it was. I apologise profusely for my omission.

If I was rude, and not a lovely, polite Kiwi, then I would say something about "Oh - that's right; you're one of those Murkns they make those programs on TV for that repeat the facts in painful detail every few minutes, to make sure your attention span hasn't been exceeded and you've forgotten what we're talking about." :schla15:

But I'm not like that, so I'll just patiently reply thusly:

They are Fiamm (AM80 Super) horns. :biggrin:

I also won't point out that if you scroll up a few posts, you will see I mentioned that they were Fiamms. :idea3:

And because I'm polite, helpful, and have little better to do (apart from work, but it's Friday afternoon, and I'm tahhhrrrrd), I will even RE-post a picture of them for you:

Edited December 15, 2006 by enzed_viffer

[Daniel Paul]

do you have to use the relay that comes with the horn? can you just hook it up to the existing horn wiring (since you'll probably be removing that junk stock horn anyhow)?

[enzed_viffer]

My bad. I wasn't following the thread clearly.

No, MY bad.

I haven't had lunch, because I left my wallet at home, so I'm a bit snippy today. :biggrin:

Plus I'm enjoying some LOVELY withdrawl symptoms from refusing to take my venlafaxine. :schla15:

But I tell you what - I feel almost ME!

Yay, me!! :idea3:

[enzed_viffer]

They pull nearly 18 amps and would smoke your stock horn switch at some point.

That's a heck of a current; would it be continuous, and mostly when they're first spooling up?

But in any case - if anyone wants better horns, I'd use a relay and some thicker than OEM wire (even with the OEM horn). It makes a huge difference to their efficiency.

On the VFR750, I fitted an extra disk-type horn (Hella, or some cheap Japanese or Italian brand), and wired both horns through a relay to big wires from the battery. It was "OW!! Never, ever do that again, Dad!" loud.

I really MUST take my fairing off and take some photos of my install (carefully doctored to make the lasagne brackets look meticulously crafted...) :idea3:

[Beck]

The ridiculously wimpy horns that most Japanese motorcycle and car manufacturer's put on their vehicles maybe stems from their culture's fondess of cute things like Hello Kitty toys and characters and Pokeman themes that seem to permeate even through the country's adult population (note the continuing popularity of "manga" cartoon movies, though voilent and gorey most times, will always have snippets of cute character introductions.

I wonder when the Japanese companies will finally realize that the whole world really prefers loud, ungirly-man-like tooters on their bikes and cars?

It never fails, everytime I buy yet another new Japanese vehicle, I always have to change out the horn to get it ready for the BIG American Highways!

JMOs

Beck

95 VFR, audio-fortified with low-tone 130+ db Italian Fiamm Snail Horn!

[enzed_viffer]

My Fiamm Snail-type horns are supposedly only 110dB. Could be louder.

I reckon that maybe the inoffensive horn thing is because melodiously tootling loud horns at one another is anathema to Japanese?

Anyway, what I'd really like is the fantastic, chromed, low-tone beauty they used to fit to the early/mid 70s CB350. Probably a Japanese copy of a Cadillac horn or somesuch.

[thereisnospoon]

Hey Beck-

Do you know of a model or retailer? I have come across a couple online but they didn't have any dimension information. I like the idea...

Maybe the older air horn design with the separate air pump and trumpets might work better for a space defecient 5th gen. The horns are ususally small, thin and light plastic affairs that could be squeezed into tight spaces within the 5th gen's tight fairings. Supporting the light trumpet units should be very easy because it does not need heavy support brackets. In fact you might even just zip-tie the buggers on to anything solid enough. All you need to adjust is the legnth of the air tubes. The air pump unit should be small enough to find room for, somewhere in the near vicinity of the trumpets.

Regarding the Vtec and Stebel horns, I think you can even mount two of those Stebel units on a 6th gen, one under each of the fairing "boobs" , immediately above the radiators. That could make for a trian like sound to blast away those pesky Volvo Estate drivers.

Just a thought I'd like to share.....

Beck

95 VFR

[Beck]

"JC Whitney" carries two models at less than 30 bucks per set (2 trumpet and 3 trumpet models). Check out their site and look in their airhorn portion of their catalog.

You have to remember though that you will still have to find enough space for the pump unit. It should be easier to find a space for it, because it is smaller than the Stebel integrated pump/horn/ unit that is shown installed by the OP.

Good luck on your winter horn project!

Beck

95 VFR

Hey Beck-

Do you know of a model or retailer? I have come across a couple online but they didn't have any dimension information. I like the idea...

Maybe the older air horn design with the separate air pump and trumpets might work better for a space defecient 5th gen. The horns are ususally small, thin and light plastic affairs that could be squeezed into tight spaces within the 5th gen's tight fairings. Supporting the light trumpet units should be very easy because it does not need heavy support brackets. In fact you might even just zip-tie the buggers on to anything solid enough. All you need to adjust is the legnth of the air tubes. The air pump unit should be small enough to find room for, somewhere in the near vicinity of the trumpets.

Regarding the Vtec and Stebel horns, I think you can even mount two of those Stebel units on a 6th gen, one under each of the fairing "boobs" , immediately above the radiators. That could make for a trian like sound to blast away those pesky Volvo Estate drivers.

Just a thought I'd like to share.....

Beck

95 VFR

[Daniel Paul]

I just finished mine today, and it is one loud mo-fo!

[zubin]

Anyone care to post a "How to Install the Stebel Nautilus" guide for those of us (probably just me!) who are less technically minded in things electrical? I got one for Christmas and I want to install it next month.

Pleeez!