Simple Stebel Nautilus Install - with pics

Howdy y'all!

This is my first post, so let me take this opportunity to thank everyone for great posts on the forum, making life easier for VFR fans everywhere!

Like many others on the forum, I went the route of installing the Stebel Nautilus horn to get a bit more noise from my bike. I took inspiration from several good threads on the forum (like this one) to figure out the best option for mounting the Stebel. However, once I removed the left-side fairing I discovered a very simple way to install it which I haven't seen in any of the other threads. I thought I would post some pics so others can take advantage:

I used a simple "steel band" (don't know the english name for this, sorry) which I bent into a nice mount for the Stebel. The band wraps around one of the top mounts for the fairing itself, and is fastened with the same bolt that fits the fairing in place. Hard to explain, but take a look at the pics below. Anyway, this was extremely quick and easy to do, and it leaves the Nautilus in a vertical position with the opening of the plastic horn attachment facing outwards (behind the fairing, obviously). It also allows the Nautilus to sit in the location of the fairing which has the most free space, and the horn does not rub against the fairing or interfere with any suspension movement. The only drawback is that the horn is fastened (and therefore unfastened) with the same bolt as the fairing itself - so when the fairing is removed for servicing etc. the Nautilus can potentially come loose. However, this does not seem to be a real problem in my install, the mount I fabricated wraps around the fairing mount and does a nice job of keeping the Stebel in place even when the fairing bolt is removed.

Anyways, hope the pics can serve as inspiration - this is an easy mod, and definitely worth doing!

[Edit: Forgot to mention the year of my bike - it's a 2002]

 

Thanks Polar! I just ordered a Stebel the other day and have been searching all the mounting options. This is the one I am going with!

 

Cool - thanks PP! I have one of these horns boxed and in storage. I originally bought 2 thinking I'd give one to a buddy. I had such an awful time finding space to mount one of them on my (then) only bike (a 996 where everything fits like a glove) that the other one got forgotten in storage. I bought a nice used 2005 VFR last year and didn't even think of putting the other horn in it. Your mount looks super-easy. I'm glad I spotted your post!

 

Awesome! Thank you! How does it sound under the plastic? It's gotta be a vast improvement either way.

 

It's nice and loud :biggrin: Definitely a mod worth doing! Haven't had a chance to use it "in action" yet though (which is a good thing, I suppose...).

 

I had a question on the connections, which I thought I'd reply to here in case others also wonder.

Q:
"Thanks for the post on mounting this horn , Looks easy enough but what about hooking it up? did you just unplug the stock horn and re-rout the wires? OK thanks "

A:
Right below where I mounted the Stebel, in the first pic above, you can see a wire connection wrapped in a plastic cover. Two of the wires in this connection route to the stock horn (experiment with meter and horn button until you find the right cables). I simply cut into the + lead to the stock horn from this connection and routed the wire back to underneath my seat, where I put the relay and other connections (to battery & ground). I routed the wires under the tank.

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks for this idea, PolarPolaris! I split my Stebel and mounted the horn where you mounted your entire unit, then I bolted the compressor to the OEM horn mount.

(At first I couldn't figure out why it wasn't getting any power...and the reason was that I hadn't plugged the bloody relay into the wiring block....)