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Stebel TM-80 Magnum Horn Install - 6th gen

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by geezerider, Dec 2, 2006.

  1. geezerider

    geezerider New Member

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    This placement WILL impact the front fender under hard braking. Do NOT try this! I am going back to the pondering and will, hopefully, find a better place for this horn. There simply isn't much room in a 6th gen ABS bike...

    Honda stuck a rather anemic horn in my beloved '05 VFR. Making things worse, they took up all the space I'd hoped to use for installing a Stebel Nautilus with various ABS thingies. But, Stebel sells another great horn, this one is not pneumatic, therefore it can fit in smaller spaces.

    I surfed around and found the Stefel TM80 Magnum series. This is a high-low pair of horns each emitting 136 db, or 139 as a pair. That is the same rating as the Nautilus.
    [​IMG]

    I had three goals:
    1. I didn't want the sound rattling around inside a fairing
    2. I didn't want to have to fiddle with too much plastic
    3. I didn't want to cut into the bike's wiring harness

    Having been in the IT business for over 30 years, I've become a strong adherant to the K-I-S-S method of life. So I sat and pondered before I started unbolting.

    Ultimately this big hole looked most promising.
    [​IMG]

    Oh yeah, this looks like it'll work!
    [​IMG]

    OK, time to begin. After much thought and deliberation, plus the judicious use of small fuses:eek: I determined the amp pull of the horn. Acutally, this was planned as I hooked the horn up to a makeshift wiring jig and connected it to the battery with a 3 amp inline fuse. It held just fine. When I added the second horn in series the fuse blew. That gave me the confidence to proceed without (<-edit) using a relay. This horn pulls less than 3 amps!

    Poking around inside I found the perfect spot to mount the horn bracket. Stebel was good enough to provide two with each horn. Good for me because I guessed wrong on the first bend. I bent the second one correctly on my workbench vise and use the brake hose clamp bolt to hold it up. ->WARNING - See addendum to this article concerning fender clearance <-
    [​IMG]

    Here is the test fit.
    [​IMG]

    Looks good where it is, so I'll work on the wiring.

    I really wanted to keep my stock POS horn also as noise is noise and the harmonic couldn't hurt. So I decided to take the power straight off the stock horn connecter.
    [​IMG]

    Actually that connector is the ground. The power lead turned out the be on top, but you get the idea.

    I crimped a spade connector on a wire and brought it out a wire nut. From this nut I ran the power to both horns. Stock gauge wiring proved capable of pulling both horns.
    [​IMG]

    Heat shrink this to keep it from going anywhere...
    [​IMG]

    This nut splits the power from the horn button to both horns.

    From this point I simply crimped on female connectors and pluged up the power to both horns. I grounded the Stebel to the strap to keep from having to run a common ground.

    Clean up the wiring thusly...
    [​IMG]

    Here's the final mount. I painted part of the horn case black:
    [​IMG]

    That's all there is to it! It took about an hour of work and an hour or two pondering and playing "what if."

    Addendum:
    Several people noted that there was a possible clearance problem. It isn't just possible, there is. In the original fitment it would contact the fender at almost (70%?) full compression. So I reworked my hanging bracket and moved the horn as far back and up as is possible.
    [​IMG]
    It will STILL contact at 80-85% (guess) full compression. This seems OK for me so far since I'm too old to be attacking the twisties like in my impetuous youth:biggrin:. Therefore, BE WARNED.

    Geeze
     

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  2. Tori

    Tori New Member

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    So how satisfied are you with the sound ? I presume you were looking for a major increase in sound. Do you happen to know the decibel level on the stock horn ?
     


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  3. geezerider

    geezerider New Member

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    IMO, sound is great. I have no meter to gauge it by.
     


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