Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => Accessories and modifications - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: GIXXERKELLY on May 18, 2011, 07:05:10 PM
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I had TWO idiots pull out in front of me within 1 mile of the house. Retard #1 had ear phones on riding their bicycle. Retard #2 was just an idiot and turned in front of me because they could. THe factory horn is sad. Why do they put these piece of junk on bikes all these years. I had a FZR600 that I added a horn from a 78 Chevy Caprice and man did it get some attention.
What have you done?
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BMW 1150RT horns. They require no special circuit or extreme volt/amps. They are loud...like a car horn.
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Usually by the time I can actually hit the horn, I am out of danger.
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Usually by the time I can actually hit the horn, I am out of danger.
+1...
Never fails, I always seem to hit the starter button first... :nuts:
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I had TWO idiots pull out in front of me within 1 mile of the house. Retard #1 had ear phones on riding their bicycle. Retard #2 was just an idiot and turned in front of me because they could. THe factory horn is sad. Why do they put these piece of junk on bikes all these years.
I have no idea why they would put such a pathetic horn on the Concours. On my ZRX, I added an air horn and mounted it on the faring (visible!) Eventually, I will get around to adding a LOUD air horn on the Concours, too (but probably under the fairing
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Usually by the time I can actually hit the horn, I am out of danger.
Yeah, I have that problem too. Then I would only honk out of purely being pissed off. But occasionally, I can honk ahead and avoid a potential problem (well, that is when I had an air horn on me previous bike. Ain't nobody gonna hear the tiny OEM beep on the Concours)
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I have no idea why they would put such a pathetic horn on the Concours. On my ZRX, I added an air horn and mounted it on the faring (visible!) Eventually, I will get around to adding a LOUD air horn on the Concours, too (but probably under the fairing
My ZRX didn't have a horn for awhile....When I switched to a round headlight, my under fairing bracket from Ted didn't work. So I left it off.
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I wonder if a goldwing horn would be plug and play?
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Stebel nautilus, loud as , well a loud horn ;D Just don't blow it in your garage without hearing protection :-X
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Stebel nautilus, loud as , well a loud horn ;D Just don't blow it in your garage without hearing protection :-X
I have that horn, the only problem is that it's a pain in the ass to find a place to mount it. As asked above, I think the Goldwing Horn might be my next choice. I have a Goldwing and it's horn is damn near as loud as the air horn.
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Guys,
I just purchased the Stebel Nautilus Horn for my bike.
Would any of You guys that have purchased this horn have any install / mounting suggestions?
If so please post.
thanks,
C14-Pilot
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I have that horn, the only problem is that it's a pain in the ass to find a place to mount it.
I mounted mine on the left side under the plastic, using a bolt located on the top of the frame. Used the strap that comes with the horn and made a u shape on one end, loosened the bolt, slipped the strap under and re-tightened the bolt.
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Where are you guys purchasing the Stebel nautilus horn?
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I purchased mine at bikerhiway.com
It was 38.00 for the horn and 19.99 for pnp wiring harness.
Free ground shipping.
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Where are you guys purchasing the Stebel nautilus horn?
www.murphskits.com (http://www.murphskits.com) ;)
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Here's what Fred did.
http://www.pbase.com/fredharmon/horns (http://www.pbase.com/fredharmon/horns)
I have a FIAMM freeway blaster low that I plan on installing one of these days, I'll be keeping the stocker as well.
meep meep
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I wonder if a goldwing horn would be plug and play?
I think that any horn would be plug and play. Just bolt it on wherever it will fit and plug in to the existing horn wire. Horns shouldn't be activated long enough to require a wiring upgrade.
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I think that any horn would be plug and play. Just bolt it on wherever it will fit and plug in to the existing horn wire. Horns shouldn't be activated long enough to require a wiring upgrade.
NOT true! I don't know what the horn button is rated at but if you exceed the current rating you stand a good chance of melting the thing. It's way better to use a horn relay.
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I have no idea why they would put such a pathetic horn on the Concours. On my ZRX, I added an air horn and mounted it on the faring (visible!) Eventually, I will get around to adding a LOUD air horn on the Concours, too (but probably under the fairing
It IS a Japanese bike that is also sold in European and Asian countries where the horn is used on an almost continuous basis as an alert in traffic. Here in the U.S. the horn has a different meaning, e.g. "You really f***d up you ***hole!"
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NOT true! I don't know what the horn button is rated at but if you exceed the current rating you stand a good chance of melting the thing. It's way better to use a horn relay.
How long would you have to blow the upgraded horn for the contacts to overheat?
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I still would love to know if a Wing horn would work, without having to install a relay?
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Uh oh.... The Joker is back!! 8)
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Yeah Im back!!!!! I found this horn, it looks like maybe a winner? Says no wiring harness needed, Im assuming no relay either?
http://www.happy-trail.com/PIAA-Sports-Horn.aspx (http://www.happy-trail.com/PIAA-Sports-Horn.aspx)
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How long would you have to blow the upgraded horn for the contacts to overheat?
It depends on what the switch is rated at and how much current you're drawing through it. If the rating is low and the draw high, you could melt it immediately. The Fiamm low note alone draws 6 amps for one horn and @ ~1' the C weighted SPL is 126dB. The stocker draws just under 5 amps and @ ~1' the C weighted SPL is 116dB. If you want to try a higher amperage horn without a relay, be my guest. I'll be using a 30 amp relay for the job. I don't know how much it would cost to replace the stock horn switch but I'll bet it's more than the $5 for a relay.
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I still would love to know if a Wing horn would work, without having to install a relay?
I think that Fred H used a Wing horn (maybe two) at one point but I'm sure that he used a relay.
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Yeah Im back!!!!! I found this horn, it looks like maybe a winner? Says no wiring harness needed, Im assuming no relay either?
http://www.happy-trail.com/PIAA-Sports-Horn.aspx (http://www.happy-trail.com/PIAA-Sports-Horn.aspx)
Yep, it says no harness needed which means no relay. It also doens't say how much current it draws. It lists the SPL at 115dB but it doesn't give the distance from the horn to the meter. As I said above, the stocker is 116dB @ ~1 foot.
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I went to a junk yard and get a set of Toyota horns HI & LO are very small and very loud, like those in the link but should be in that combination High and Low tone
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-98-99-00-01-Toyota-Camry-LE-Horn-High-Tone-/390301410310?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5adfc6e406 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-98-99-00-01-Toyota-Camry-LE-Horn-High-Tone-/390301410310?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5adfc6e406)
Also i did use a relay same way as in Fred Harmon link
http://www.pbase.com/fredharmon/image/128800500 (http://www.pbase.com/fredharmon/image/128800500)
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Think I'm going to do this:
http://www.twistedthrottle.com/article/articleview/384/1/28/ (http://www.twistedthrottle.com/article/articleview/384/1/28/)
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I bought a set of two Fiamm El Grande horns from Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000DLBIGG) for $18.80 (even less now) and had them installed using the existing horn bracket. They are quite loud and sound like a dual-tone car horn and thus much, much better than the measly (mweep, mweep) original horn. Even with my earbuds on under my helmet, I can hear my own horn very well at highway speeds. With the stock horn I couldn't tell if it was even working unless I stopped.
Don
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I bought a set of two Fiamm El Grande horns from Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000DLBIGG) for $18.80 (even less now) and had them installed using the existing horn bracket. They are quite loud and sound like a dual-tone car horn and thus much, much better than the measly (mweep, mweep) original horn. Even with my earbuds on under my helmet, I can hear my own horn very well at highway speeds. With the stock horn I couldn't tell if it was even working unless I stopped.
Don
Did you wire in a relay?
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I still would love to know if a Wing horn would work, without having to install a relay?
The wing horn is on a circuit with a 15 amp fuse, I don't know how much it draws when activated but there are other things on the same circuit.
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I had the Hi & Lo tone Fiamm Freeway Blasters on my FJR and I LOVED them. I always joked that it sounded like a 1974 Buick horn. When I bought my Connie I purchased the Stebel package from Murph and after install, it was louder than stock, but didn't compare to the Freeway Blasters. Today I swapped out the Stebels for another pair of Blasters and I am happy once again. For me, these horns are much louder and grab your attention much quicker.
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I went with the Stebel Nautilus's bigger brother, the Stebel Compact Truck Horn. Very similar to the nautilus; just has a lower tone and larger horn body.
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When I bought my Connie I purchased the Stebel package from Murph and after install, it was louder than stock, but didn't compare to the Freeway Blasters. Today I swapped out the Stebels for another pair of Blasters and I am happy once again. For me, these horns are much louder and grab your attention much quicker.
Note- he is referring to the Stebel magnetic horns, not the Stebel air horns, like the Nautilus.
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I just received the Stebel Nautilis and installed it this last weekend. Had to whip up a custom harness for it to get the relay in there, but I left the stock horn on there as well and just adjusted it up a bit. Custom harness wasn't hard, but took a while and I would definately go with a PNP next time. I just have this thing about doing it myself at least once to get the experience. Like many others, I mounted it on the right side just under the upper and mid plastics. I hated putting it there because the openings for blasting are pointed at the plastics, not at the idiots in front of me, but it is loud enough to compensate.
Only had to use it once so far, but my comment on that is that when I am reacting to an *idiot* I am not thinking about a horn, I am finding my escape route and making sure I'm safe. After all is well, THAT is when I communicate with the offending driver. I must say, the eyes appeared to double in diameter on her when I laid on that thing. Good investment for about $45 total.
Documentation says 138db @ 4 inches, more like 118db at 4 feet. It's still an attention getter though.
-SparX
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I installed the SN horn last weekend under the right side upper black panel and installed DDM HID's at the same time. This thing is freaking LOUD!!
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Let see, when I am kicked back in a LS 460, listening to some tunes, you think a loud motorcycle horn is going to disturb me ???
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I just finished installing the Stebel Nautilus horn and wire harness from BikerHiway. I have a California model with the evaporative emission control canister under the right panel, where others have installed the horn. I decided to mount the horn where the existing horn was mounted, using the original mounting bracket from the old horn. I trimmed roughly an inch off the bracket using my angle grinder. Then, I drilled a new hole in the bracket, just below the bottom of the "U." As you can see in the picture I didn't use the intended horizontal mounting (where the bolt would be going horizontal rather than vertical). So I enlarged the hole on the top of the horn, so that the bracket would be installed on the top of the horn. The horn just clears the radiator. As you probably noticed, I'm having a difficult time explaining how I mounted the horn. I also had a difficult time taking pictures after the install. I really like where it is mounted. I highly recommend the plug-n-play wiring harness. For $20.00 it's well worth it. Love this horn!!!
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I just finished installing the Stebel Nautilus horn and wire harness from BikerHiway. I decided to mount the horn where the existing horn was mounted, using the original mounting bracket from the old horn.
Wow! I wouldn't not have thought that was possible! I bet it will seem to be a lot louder mounted there. I see what you mean about the pictures, it is a bit hard to tell what is going on. Please address the following:
1) Do you think it will be blocking a significant amount of airflow to the radiator?
2) Do you think the Nautilus would be OK there with the possible amount of weather that will be thrown at it?
3) Are you concerned that the huge weight of the Nautilus compared the the stock, tiny magnetic horn, will be too much for the stock bracket and perhaps fail?
Thanks
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I'd be more worried about clearence at full fork compression. Looks great though.
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Wow! I wouldn't not have thought that was possible! I bet it will seem to be a lot louder mounted there. I see what you mean about the pictures, it is a bit hard to tell what is going on. Please address the following:
1) Do you think it will be blocking a significant amount of airflow to the radiator?
2) Do you think the Nautilus would be OK there with the possible amount of weather that will be thrown at it?
3) Are you concerned that the huge weight of the Nautilus compared the the stock, tiny magnetic horn, will be too much for the stock bracket and perhaps fail?
Thanks
1) I thought about that, but I don't think it's an issue. There is plenty of surface area for air flow.
2) I would think that Stebel made this unit be weather resistant...maybe not weatherproof, though. I'm not worried about it.
3) No, not at all. The stock bracket is very strong, heavy gauge steel. On top of that, others have mounted this horn with the stock bracket with using only one bolt, I'm using both bolts, which is how the bracket was intended to be used.
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I'd be more worried about clearence at full fork compression. Looks great though.
That was my main worry at first. However, because it is so far back, close to the radiator, the issue is moot. Although you can't see that in the pictures. Sorry!