Dallas Area Help Needed - Air Horn

[Professor]

I just bought a Stebel Nautilus air horn for my R1200RT. I've looked at several of the threads on installation, but I'm not enough of a wrench/electrician to figure it out. To be honest, I don't even know how to remove the Tupperware.

One thread I found earlier said you can hook it into the CANBUS without any problem and it seemed pretty simple, but I can't find that thread again. Others have said to use the relay and connect it to the battery. One guy used a CenTech fuse panel, but others have not.

If anyone in the Dallas area has experience with this and is willing to help me install my new horn, please respond. I need help!!

[aaaaaa]

Good Luck Professor. Nothing but ohm's law at work there.
robert

[SIBUD]

Check out this thread (http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=333077&fpart=1) on BMW Sports Touring forum.

Good info.

[Motorradfahrer]

This was derived from Big Dom in ADVrider forum. I used his guide and successfully installed the horn on my 1200 GS with nary a problem. Horn works great and wakes the dead! Wiring color of the RT and GS are the same.....

How to mount the Stebel on your RT is up to you

A) REMOVE OEM HORN


1) Mount Stebel horn
2) Connect + side of horn to relay #87 terminal
3) Make a short three way connector that will fit relay terminal #85
(ie female connector onto #85 with three wires each with its own female connector)
3) Connect - side of horn to one of the # 85 terminals
4) Connect the brown wire from OEM horn wires to another # 85 terminal
5) Connect the third # 85 three way connector to the - side of battery or good ground on bike.
6) Connect relay #86 terminal to green/yellow (hot) wire from OEM horn wiring.
7) Finally connect terminal #30 to + 12v side of battery with a 20A inline fuse.
HONK AWAY!

(draw yourself a little picture of wiring - it helps)

[Professor]

That is the simplest instructions I've seen. Since I've never done anything like this, I have to to get wires and terminals and fuses, figure out how to make the connections, prepare an in-line fuse, take the Tupperware off, run the wires from the front to the battery, etc., but I can probably figure most of that out.

Someone on another forum said you need to use 12 ga. wire because the 18 ga. on the original horn is not heavy enough to carry the additional current of the Stebel without heating up. True? Have you had any problems with burning insulation, CANBUS envy or anything like that? How long have you been using the Stebel?

Thanks.

[Motorradfahrer]

I am from the old school of thought. I do not believe that any accessory wire should ever be directly connected to the battery posts. Use a small or appropriate fuse terminal for multiple wires to be connected.

1) Wires from the battery to the Centec terminal are 10 gauge.

2) Wires from the Centech fuse terminal...>horn are 12 ga..that is the positive and negative. The rest are 16/18 gauge connected to the OEM wires and three way connector.

Never had a problem...been honking for a year now. No CANBUS issues as the hot wiring is not connected to it...its connected to the battery thru a Centech terminal. I use a 20 amp fuse in the Centech for the Horn.

Caution: If you ride in lots of dusty areas..do add a small gasoline filter to the air intake of the Stebel horn to prevent dirt from being sucked in. The small gasoline filter can be had from your local autostores and is connected using a small piece of clear tubing.

[Professor]

That sounds good to me (pun intended). Thanks for your help.:thumb

[Professor]

Just to let everybody know, the project was finished yesterday. Ben Lower did almost all the work and the new horn is LOUD!! I'm very pleased with the result.

Motoradfahrer's instructions were quite helpful. Although we didn't follow them exactly, the diagrams Ben drew from them showed us exactly how this one needed to be wired.

Some of the posts in other threads said that while better than stock, the Stebel wasn't as loud as hoped. I think the key is to use heavier wire that can handle the current. We used #12 for the power wires and the stock wire for the control. As my wife said, it sounds like an 18-wheeler. It is actually louder than I expected.

Thanks to everyone who responded and especially to Ben for his hard work.