Mounting a Stebel Nautilus Air Horn on the RT

[ringalls51]

I installed the horn just like the instruction stated. just like your project. every time I touch the wire to the battery the horn blows. had someone else look at it and he stated I was installed just like the instruction stated. so what could the problem be. don't understand. something I did find out the red wire is hot all the time on the stock horn when you take a tester to it and the - wire black wire is also hot. so when you push the horn button it is neg. to complete the circuit. the horn blows. have any ideas. help.

[kevorama]

I installed the horn just like the instruction stated. just like your project. every time I touch the wire to the battery the horn blows. had someone else look at it and he stated I was installed just like the instruction stated. so what could the problem be. don't understand. something I did find out the red wire is hot all the time on the stock horn when you take a tester to it and the - wire black wire is also hot. so when you push the horn button it is neg. to complete the circuit. the horn blows. have any ideas. help.

Are you using the relay that came with the Stebel or are you hooking it up to the bikes existing relay? I used the relay that Stebel sent with the package and had no problems. There are 4 tabs on that relay. Two are for the + and - from the horn, another tab is for the + from the battery and the last tab gets grounded to the frame. I installed a 30A inline fuse close to the battery for my + from the battery.

[Bob Denman]

Geoffcee did a lot of legwork on installing a Stebel; send him a PM.

[ringalls51]

yes I the relay that came with the horn. tried again as instruction it still blows when I connect to battery. the relay must be bad I guess

[kevorama]

yes I the relay that came with the horn. tried again as instruction it still blows when I connect to battery. the relay must be bad I guess

ringalls51, sorry I couldn't have been more help. That's the only thing that I could think of that you did not mention. I'm clueless.

[GeoffCee]

yes I the relay that came with the horn. tried again as instruction it still blows when I connect to battery. the relay must be bad I guess

It's vital that you wire up to the numbered terminals on the relay correctly. Your description of the fault indicates that the horn is getting a supply of juice without the horn button being pushed. It could be a bad relay with the solenoid stuck in the closed position across terminals 87 and 30, or 85 and 86. You can check these with a meter or alternatively use a lump of wire, a battery and a torch bulb.

Really bad luck if the relay turns out to be faulty, these things are massed produced in their thousands and to hit on a bad one has to be the exception. But it could happen.

[Flanker]

Nice install.....................hoping I can pirate some of it for my RSS. I've got a Stebel left over from my M109 project last year........................and the stock RSS horn is so lame; I might just as well yell honk, honk!

[cjackg]

yes I the relay that came with the horn. tried again as instruction it still blows when I connect to battery. the relay must be bad I guess

I have had Stebel horns on two RTs so far, both without a relay and with no problems. I simply plugged the OEM connectors into the Stebel.
I have never had a blown fuse or related problem with the horn without the relay. So, the simple approach really does work.
Maybe you need to take a step back !

[Flanker]

I'm mounting my Stebel to my '12 SM5 RSS. I've got the panels off, and dismounted the stock horn and it's mounting bracket; they're mounted to the left (clutch) side of the trunk. There are two wires/plugs to the stock horn, a green wire and orange/white stripe wire. The wires, plugs, and stock horn terminals are not marked as positive or negative. Are they both hot, or is one a ground (earth to you UK guys) wire? Per the posts above; I assume one of them goes to the high load terminal on the Stebel's relay block, where the heck would the other one go? TY! UPDATE: Disregard..................I reread Geoff's earlier post about what all the terminals on the Stebel relay block are for, I see both my wires attach to 85 & 86..................if it don't work one way.............I'll just switch 'em around and see how that works.

[Flanker]

Well, that was fun ..........................or not. Got the Stebel, relay, and all the wiring installed. Had to make three parts runs, one for 14 gage red & black wire, a second for a mounting strap/rail for the Stebel, nuts & bolts, Loc Tite thread locker, and the third because the Velcro and double sided mounting tape I "thought" I had..............I don't, or have misplaced it. , . When I power the Spyder up, and press the horn button; all it does is click with each horn button press. The first time, I figured I had the two stock horn leads attached bass ackwards on the 85 & 86 relay terminals, so I switched them.............the thing (relay) still just clicks with each press of the horn button. Didn't notice any codes or alarm icons on the dash board read outs. Thoughts, or suggestions? When I get back into it tomorrow; I'll follow up on suggestions, and I think I'm going to try Jack's wiring solution, and disconnect the relay entirely and run the stock horn leads directly to the Stebel.

[jthornton]

and I think I'm going to try Jack's wiring solution, and disconnect the relay entirely and run the stock horn leads directly to the Stebel.

If the Stebel draws more current than the stock horn you might let the magic smoke out of the stock relay...

I'm guessing you don't have a multi-meter? You can get one for <$20 at places like Sears, auto parts stores etc. that would at least help you test for polarity and volts.

If you can hear the relay click then the logical place to look is the hot from the battery through the 30amp fuse to the relay contact. This is where a meter comes in handy. I don't remember the terminal number on the relay from the wiring diagram on page 1 but if you set the meter to DC and touch the ground terminal on the battery with the black lead (usually) and touch the terminal on the relay you should read 12 volts. If not then the problem is in that wire.

JT

[Flanker]

Thanks for the response and advice! Been meanin' to buy a multi meter for the last 30 years..........LOL! Bea good tool to have in the box; seems like once or twice a year I wish I had one. Anyway..............I went out this AM, and yanked the Stebel relay, and plugged the stock horn wires (they even had the right plugs to fit the Stebel terminals) onto the Stebel. OMG!! As the kids say.....................sound like a very ill goose trying to vomit (like I've heard that sound a lot ), pretty disappointed; then the little light bulb went on over my head. Switch the wires on the terminals dummy! Much better! Should be able to freak people out, get idiot drivers on their cells attention (before they run me over I hope), and cause nervous people to soil themselves! w00t! Pics of my install on my '12 RSS below. Stock horn location.Stebel mounting bracket; made of two starter mortor shims Stebel mounting bracket location Stebel with bracket Stebel in place Relay mounting location before it was tosse din favor of attaching stock horn wires directly to Stebel terminals

[Green RSS]

Nice install. Very professional looking.

[stallion143]

I opened up my RT and decided on a different mounting location for my Stebel air horn...I removed the stock horn, found a heavy duty bracket I had laying around, and bent it to fit the area. I did have to trim about 1/4" of plastic to get it to fit, but I think it turned out good!

As previous posts mention, BE SURE you follow the wiring instructions...I did run #12 wires from the + and - of the battery and installed a 20 amp in-line fuse on the positive wire between the battery post and #30 on the relay.

This install won't work if you have or plan on installing factory fog lights. There is no problem with clearance or vibration if you don't have the factory fog lights...

Good luck with your installation of this VERY LOUD horn!

[SNOOPY]

I'm having a time finding a place for my Stebel on my ST-S.

Looking at the pics here, the RTs have way more room behind plastic than I do and the RS pictured has way less wiring than I have in that area.

only options I can see at the moment is either cut up and epoxy in an area in the frunk for the horn , or mount it under the bike somewhere and hope it lasts as it weathers.

There also "looks" like some room directly under the middle of the lights, but have the bike has to come apart to get to it...hate to go through that trouble if it doesn't fit.

[Copperman]

I few years ago I installed a Stebel air horn on my Suzuki Boulevard and I used a "Universal Plug-n-Play Wiring Harness for Motorcycle Air Horns" that I bought on Amazon. It cost 20 dollars but was worth every penny. It's plug-n-play and a very fast install (the wiring part). I guess you could buy all the pieces and parts and make a harness yourself, but why? This is a time saver. And remember folks... Time is money!

I think I just talked myself into another farkle.

[dizzyspots]

Just finished my install...2012 RT LTD with fog lights...disconnected stock horn wires...had to fish them up thru and out of a couple of wire clips..plenty of slack..connected them to the Nautilus...found space to install at the rear of the upper panel..against a steel bracket with a ledge..HD velcro and up against the heavy foam padding...works great and LOUD!! Easy and simple...took longer to r&r the panels than it did to install the horn!

[Biosafena]

Just finished my install...2012 RT LTD with fog lights...disconnected stock horn wires...had to fish them up thru and out of a couple of wire clips..plenty of slack..connected them to the Nautilus...found space to install at the rear of the upper panel..against a steel bracket with a ledge..HD velcro and up against the heavy foam padding...works great and LOUD!! Easy and simple...took longer to r&r the panels than it did to install the horn!

I hope the supplied relay was used, as I don't believe the factory wiring/switch are heavy enough to be used directly on the Stebel horn. They are acceptable to trigger the relay, but power needs to be supplied from the battery or a separate fuse block.


Sent from the corner of walk and don't walk....

[dizzyspots]

I would assume the factory uses a relay between the switch and the horn .....correct?

[WARWAGON]

Picture?

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[cjackg]

I hope the supplied relay was used, as I don't believe the factory wiring/switch are heavy enough to be used directly on the Stebel horn. They are acceptable to trigger the relay, but power needs to be supplied from the battery or a separate fuse block.

I whole heartedly Disagree! So far, I have owned two RTs and installed a Stebel on both of them with no extra wiring or relays whatsoever and simply plugged the Stebel onto the same connections used for the oem Horn... and never had a problem at all and no blown fuses etc. The oem horn wiring is on a circuit heavy enough to handle the Stebel. Maybe you could stress it if you held the horn button down for a very extended period of time, but in normal use I have never had a blown fuse or any other related problem on either RT.... I know of several other RT owners who have done the same thing!

I could also tell you how to considerably simplify mounting the Stebel, but it wouldnt stand up to the complex engineering most folks seem to want to undertake in mounting this horn!

[SNOOPY]

I could also tell you how to considerably simplify mounting the Stebel, but it wouldnt stand up to the complex engineering most folks seem to want to undertake in mounting this horn!

It it would be easy to mount the horn on the handlebars w a hose clamp.

But those of us who "engineered" our placement would rather it be hidden away.

For me it was very hard to find a place on a ST-S that it would even fit.

[WARWAGON]

I whole heartedly Disagree! So far, I have owned two RTs and installed a Stebel on both of them with no extra wiring or relays whatsoever and simply plugged the Stebel onto the same connections used for the oem Horn... and never had a problem at all and no blown fuses etc. The oem horn wiring is on a circuit heavy enough to handle the Stebel. Maybe you could stress it if you held the horn button down for a very extended period of time, but in normal use I have never had a blown fuse or any other related problem on either RT.... I know of several other RT owners who have done the same thing!

I could also tell you how to considerably simplify mounting the Stebel, but it wouldnt stand up to the complex engineering most folks seem to want to undertake in mounting this horn!

Please advise, I just order one and anything that speeds up install I in favor of.



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[SNOOPY]

Please advise, I just order one and anything that speeds up install I in favor of.



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What model do you have?

Hard to get a good place on a ST-S, but I hear there is more room on a RT to mount.

[WARWAGON]

What model do you have?

Hard to get a good place on a ST-S, but I hear there is more room on a RT to mount.

I have a 2012RT.

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