Stebel Nautilus Compact Motorcycle Air Horn using Hornig's installation kit

[Scott9999]

Decided there's no time like the present to upgrade the horn, and I wanted to keep it simple.  No exotic solutions.  No extra CANBUS power systems (e.g. HEX CAN, etc.).  

 

Settled on the Stebel Nautilus compact horn.  May not be the best our there, but compared to the OEM wimper, it will go "bang" when I press the button. 

Decided also to pay a few more bucks for convenience (I know, I know, that's SO MUCH ~~ not ~~ like me), and buy the Hornig kit.  Then I noticed the fine print about that horn being incompatible with the Beemer's alarm system, unless the alarm has it's own "speaker".  

 

Hmm, that's odd.  If the horn sounds when the alarm system triggers, and the alarm triggers the horn via the switch (or does it?!), then hooking up the Stebel to the OEM switch should mean that if the alarm triggers, the Stebel blows the crooks ear drums out (rather than simply entertaining him with the factory vespa "MEEP!!!, MEEP!!!"  sound). 🙄  Or, so one would think.  Again, remember I was looking for "simple", as in something I could install half drunk in my garage in an hour or two.

 

Does anyone have experience installing the Stebel on a OEM alarm equipped Wethead, and if so, do I have to do anything in particular so that I don't lose the alarm system's functionality when I pull the OEM horn.

 

Thanks.

 

For reference:

Hornig's advert page with horn and $56 install kit (I bought my horn off Amazon)

Wunderlich's inferior, triple-the-price installation kit, just for laughs!  

Hornig Installation Video

 

[strataj]

I had the same set up on my 14R1200RT, no problem at all with the alarm.  I did have a reoccurring fault for the horn, I could clear it with GS911, it was just a fault code.  Everything worked great, I was very happy with the sound of the horn.  I now have a 22R1250RT, it has a great sounding horn, I think swapping it out would be easy.  

[Rougarou]

I installed two,....yes two on my 06 RT,.......scares children in other states when I beep the horn.

[Scott9999]

Oh my Lord, Hornig wants $63 to ship $47 in wire (plus 1 bracket)!!  OUCH.  That's outrageous.

 

The main reason I decided to go with the Hornig kit was that a BMW harness pigtail to fit the horn's OEM horn switch connection was included, which alone is (or used to be) $20 + shipping.  $20 vs. $47?  Yeah, just buy the Hornig kit.  Double the product price with pirate rip-off shipping?  Forgetaboutit.   

 

For $110, I'll cut the dang connector off and just attach a spade connector. The rest of the harness I can work up myself via parts in my garage, plus a few feet of 14 gauge wire (or I can order BMW's plug and wire, if I can identify the part number for it).  I can use a piece of angle iron for the bracket.  I can make this myself.

 

[Rougarou]

Overthinking/overpaying/overengineering.

 

I used these, and they're still working fine after 12 years, hooked into the original horn wiring.......and yes, it's an all weather bike that sees much, much rain.

 

[dirtrider]

2 hours ago, Scott9999 said:

___For $110, I'll cut the dang connector off and just attach a spade connector. The rest of the harness I can work up myself via parts in my garage, plus a few feet of 14 gauge wire (or I can order BMW's plug and wire, if I can identify the part number for it).  I can use a piece of angle iron for the bracket.  I can make this myself.

 

Afternoon  Scott9999

 

I believe the horn & the wheel speed sensor use the same basic connector. You might remove the horn then take that to a local BMW auto dealer to see if the parts department can match up the proper connector & correct terminal pins. In a lot of cases  the BMW auto's use the same connectors as the motorcycles but the car side is usually cheaper. 

 

[Scott9999]

4 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Afternoon  Scott9999

 

I believe the horn & the wheel speed sensor use the same basic connector. You might remove the horn then take that to a local BMW auto dealer to see if the parts department can match up the proper connector & correct terminal pins. In a lot of cases  the BMW auto's use the same connectors as the motorcycles but the car side is usually cheaper. 

 

That's a good idea.  In fact, when I get off my lazy tail end, if I can pull the connector and get a good picture of it, it might be a common enough BMW connector that I can find it online.  It's got a shape and number of pins.  (Lol, every MOMENT when I was putting the bike back together, I was thinking "should do the horn now, while I'm at it ... gonna regret this".  Then the other half of my brain SCREAMS at me, "'while your at it == project creep, WARNING!!! WARNING!!!".)😏

 

Well, I'll soon be on the road until the latter half of July, so I have time to get the parts together.  The horn will be sitting on my bike's seat, probably waiting along side the new handgrips for me.  I don't ride a BMW.  I FARKLE a BMW garage queen, and she's starting to complain a bit.

[Scott9999]

15 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Afternoon  Scott9999

 

I believe the horn & the wheel speed sensor use the same basic connector. You might remove the horn then take that to a local BMW auto dealer to see if the parts department can match up the proper connector & correct terminal pins. In a lot of cases  the BMW auto's use the same connectors as the motorcycles but the car side is usually cheaper. 

 

Welp, what do ya think?  Is this "old BMW horn connector" a close enough match, for the OEM plug?

 

My fuzzy picture of the horn connector under my RT "hood".  (Embarrassing, but I tried about 20x to get a more focused pix, but my old, faithful Samsung S10 wasn't having it. I may try again, if I can figure out why the S10 is misbehaving.)

 

 

The vendor's plug:

 

 

 

I found a post form someone who has done this, with a specific reference to an Amazon vendor who no longer carries the product. 🙄😩

https://www.bmwlt.com/threads/rt-horn-wiring-adapter.185021/

Hey, but I'm definitely getting warmer.

This source is red hot, i.e. I'm almost certain this is what I need, (but not if they want $22.00 plus $60 for shipping, lol.  Actually, it's $52.00 total with shipping. 🤮).  I think this also matches the one above that I found on ebay.

https://www.nippynormans.com/f650gs-08-on/horn-wiring-kit-for-bmw-bikes-with-can-bus-wiring

 

Edit #2:

I'm trying to (a) find a solution to get my horn installed, and (b) document it in a reproducible fashion, so the next guy trying install HIS horn has both supply sources and instructions.

 

Denali (via Twisted Throttle) might be the best source for parts for installing a Stebel Air Horn.  Unfortunately, the bracket they supply is not in stock.  They have a universal "L" bracket that looks similar to what Hornig is offering, but the lower part of the "L" appears shorter, so the horn may not clear something above (steering tree?) that the longer Hornig brackets does.

 

They offer:

1) DENALI WIRING ADAPTER – CONNECTS SOUNDBOMB HORNS TO OEM BMW HARNESS ($20.00)

2) The correct mounting bracket ($25, not in stock, and maybe never will be again 🙄)

3) The generic mounting bracket ($15.00, which is IN stock, and which I intend to attempt to use).

4) A DIY wiring kit (which I'll decline, since my garage is stocked with more electronic wire and connectors than I know how to use) - $23.00 (considering the inline fuse holder can run $8 to $10, not a bad price)

5) DENALI PLUG-N-PLAY WIRING KIT FOR DENALI AIR HORNS ($36.00, also works with the Stebel Air Horn) - Looks hefty and worth it; I'll bite

6) Attached, Denali's instructions for using their PNP wiring kit. Instructions_DNL.ELC.10000_rev00.pdf

 

So, $20 + $15 + $36 = $71.00, plus free shipping.  Will probably still have to buy a metric bolt to mount the bracket to the bike frame, unless I can use something in my bin.

So, ok, I'll give this a try. 

 

I could do it by buying the $8 connector from eBay which ~~ may ~~ work, buying an inline fuse and fuse holder $10, a piece of angle iron to craft a mount, some 14GA wire I have, shrink tubbing and connectors I also have, but this seems like a more certain approach, for maybe, twice the cost of a DIY solution.

 

Edit #3:  Denali's install instructions offers the same advice as @Rougarou, as an alternate option to either connecting the Denali harness via direct spade connectors (for those bikes where it would work) or the BMW plug adapter (Wetheads, Shiftcams, and I don't know what else).  In other words, splice into the OEM harness, allowing both the OEM and Stebel horns to sound.  That would probably mitigate CANBUS and/or Beemer alarm issues, but then I'd have to figure out how to mount two horns in one, very tight space.  Will try it the easy way first, removing the OEM horn, and if my Beemer throws warnings or the alarm doesn't work, I'll see what I can do about fitting two horns on my RT .... somewhere.

 

I'll report back on progress, probably the 3rd or 4th week of July.

 

 

 

 

 

[Scott9999]

Lol, well what do ya know.   That $25 mounting bracket was on backorder with TwistedThrottle last night.   When I placed the order, I figured "What the heck, I won't have time to mount this until the end of July, so I might as well just order the (proper, $25) bracket and see what happens."  Well, what happened is that it shipped this morning, i.e. apparently they just received it in.   So, overall order charge is $81 for all three items (adapter, wire harness package, $25 mounting bracket), and $35 for the compact Stebel horn from Amazon, e.g. $116 for the whole deal.

 

We'll see how it installs, but it's only about double what I WANTED to pay, which with the "transitory inflation" we've been experiencing since January 21, 2021, is about par for the course. 😏🙄😖  Definitely could have just bought the adapter, and made my own harness and bracket for less, but I spent all my "shop time" being a cheapskate trying to buy it for less.  🤣

[Scott9999]

Update (with one more question): 

 

When I got back from vacation, a bunch of packages were on my front porch (something that my wife noticed immediately, to the effect of asking to see our VISA bill 🙄).  I stacked everything on top of the RT last weekend, and started taking a look at instructions tonight.  I'm happy that I did, because as I was going through the instructions, I realized that I lacked BMW OEM horn adapter (i.e. pigtail plus BMW OEM connecter plug), and couldn't recall if I had just decided to splice into the OEM wire.  So, I went back to my "twistedthrottle.com" (TT) order, and oops ... I spent $20 on one of those things, too.  That sent me back to the boxes in the trash, digging through packing until I found the tiny envelope with the magic adapter in it.   

 

After all my "research" (mostly just b*tching on this thread), I just decided to bite the bullet.  I purchased:

#1-ea "Stebel Nautilus Compact Motorcycle Air Horn - Loud - Black" - Amazon

#1-ea "DENALI WIRING ADAPTER – CONNECTS SOUNDBOMB HORNS TO OEM BMW HARNESS" - TT

#1-ea "DENALI PLUG-N-PLAY WIRING KIT FOR DENALI AIR HORNS" - TT

#1-ea "DENALI COMPACT HORN MOUNTING BRACKET BMW R1200RT ’14-’18 & R1250RT ’19-’22" - TT

 

The horn was $50 (again, Amazon seemed to have the best price), and I can't recall the price of the Denali components.  I already have the connectors required to build the Denali harness, tough I'd have to pick up a fuse holder, I have the components to splice the OEM plug, no problem there, and I could create something for a bracket.  However, I just broke down and ordered the parts, to save time and hassle (meaning, I might actually get the thing installed this season).

 

SO HERE'S MY (last?!) QUESTION:

 

Has anyone mounted both the OEM and Stebel horns on their RT, preferably using the Denali mounting bracket?   I may just wire up the Stebel initially, but I've heard that the BMW alarm won't work with it (not that I've used the alarm yet; I think it's turned off).  If I have to mount the OEM back up, not sure how I'll do it.  It's smaller than the Stebel air horn, so I'd be inclined to stick it somewhere else under the plastic, if I can find a place that fits.   Any ideas for alternate OEM horn mounting locations on a Wethead RT?

[dirtrider]

5 hours ago, Scott9999 said:

Has anyone mounted both the OEM and Stebel horns on their RT, preferably using the Denali mounting bracket?   I may just wire up the Stebel initially, but I've heard that the BMW alarm won't work with it (not that I've used the alarm yet; I think it's turned off).  If I have to mount the OEM back up, not sure how I'll do it.  It's smaller than the Stebel air horn, so I'd be inclined to stick it somewhere else under the plastic, if I can find a place that fits.   Any ideas for alternate OEM horn mounting locations on a Wethead RT?

Morning Scott

 

On the alarm's horn problem, I can't say with certainty but my guess is that the problem is related to the new horn's higher current draw when in use. Probably minor case would be in just triggering a stored malfunction fault with no other problems. Or possibly shutting the alarm's  horn warning  circuit down if the alarm gets (stays) triggered for a long period (long enough to allow the battery voltage to drop so amp draw increases) 

 

Just honking the horn for a couple of seconds with engine running (higher alternator output voltage),  like in normal horn usage,  probably won't cause a fault but those alarms can run the horn continuous while reducing battery voltage.    

 

I can't help you with the mounting location but obviously you want to mount it close to where/how the stock horn was mounted. This is just a caution: Be darn sure to keep in mind that the front wheel (ie front fender) moves up quite a ways when you hit a big bump. I have seen more than one rider with a big divot in the front fender from the fender moving up & contacting their newly mounted wazoo horn. 

On same note: do not mount a horn so that it can take in (and HOLD) water be sure the horn is mounted so the opening is facing somewhat down.

 

Same with mounting angle/direction. Many years ago I mounted a larger horn on a friends BMW, wasn't much room to mount it but I finally found a spot that it would work & clear everything (even front fender at full compression). Worked good so friend was happy. 

 

A few months later I was talking with that friend at a breakfast,  he wanted me to look at his motorcycle as it had developed a funny noise when riding at high speeds (he was pretty  sure it was the front tire howling). 

 

I rode that motorcycle on the way home & it did have a funny sounding high speed noise but the noise didn't change when I leaned the bike over in a high speed lane changes (so I was pretty sure it wasn't the front tire making the noise). I looked everything over on that motorcycle & really couldn't find the reason but when I asked the owner when the noise started he wasn't sure but said sometime after I installed his new horn (he just used that as a time frame reference).

 

But that statement triggered me to look at the horn mounting & horn angle.   It didn't look odd or strange but just to be sure I taped over the horn's mouth with a piece of duct tape then told the owner  to ride the motorcycle a few day to see if anything changed. (I have seen and chased airflow/horn noises in automobiles many times over the years) 

 

About a week later he called me back to say the noise was gone. That howling noise was actually caused by the air flow across the horn's mouth (kind of like blowing across the top of a pop bottle). It took a combination of rotating the horn mounting slightly & using my die grinder to put some scallops in the horn's mouth perimeter to stop the howling at 90mph+.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Scott9999]

6 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Morning Scott

 

On the alarm's horn problem, I can't say with certainty but my guess is that the problem is related to the new horn's higher current draw when in use. Probably minor case would be in just triggering a stored malfunction fault with no other problems. Or possibly shutting the alarm's  horn warning  circuit down if the alarm gets (stays) triggered for a long period (long enough to allow the battery voltage to drop so amp draw increases) 

 

Just honking the horn for a couple of seconds with engine running (higher alternator output voltage),  like in normal horn usage,  probably won't cause a fault but those alarms can run the horn continuous while reducing battery voltage.    

 

I can't help you with the mounting location but obviously you want to mount it close to where/how the stock horn was mounted. This is just a caution: Be darn sure to keep in mind that the front wheel (ie front fender) moves up quite a ways when you hit a big bump. I have seen more than one rider with a big divot in the front fender from the fender moving up & contacting their newly mounted wazoo horn. 

On same note: do not mount a horn so that it can take in (and HOLD) water be sure the horn is mounted so the opening is facing somewhat down.

 

Same with mounting angle/direction. Many years ago I mounted a larger horn on a friends BMW, wasn't much room to mount it but I finally found a spot that it would work & clear everything (even front fender at full compression). Worked good so friend was happy. 

 

A few months later I was talking with that friend at a breakfast,  he wanted me to look at his motorcycle as it had developed a funny noise when riding at high speeds (he was pretty  sure it was the front tire howling). 

 

I rode that motorcycle on the way home & it did have a funny sounding high speed noise but the noise didn't change when I leaned the bike over in a high speed lane changes (so I was pretty sure it wasn't the front tire making the noise). I looked everything over on that motorcycle & really couldn't find the reason but when I asked the owner when the noise started he wasn't sure but said sometime after I installed his new horn (he just used that as a time frame reference).

 

But that statement triggered me to look at the horn mounting & horn angle.   It didn't look odd or strange but just to be sure I taped over the horn's mouth with a piece of duct tape then told the owner  to ride the motorcycle a few day to see if anything changed. (I have seen and chased airflow/horn noises in automobiles many times over the years) 

 

About a week later he called me back to say the noise was gone. That howling noise was actually caused by the air flow across the horn's mouth (kind of like blowing across the top of a pop bottle). It took a combination of rotating the horn mounting slightly & using my die grinder to put some scallops in the horn's mouth perimeter to stop the howling at 90mph+.  

That makes more sense (re: voltage drop if the horn sounds), because that air horn will (should?) draw more power over BMW's tiny "beep beeper".   I'll see what happens after I mount it.   As I said, I don't use the alarm anyhow, but when ("if" 😒) I start traveling cities more, I'll probably want to activate it.  I'll run some tests after installation.  The main reason I thought about the alarm & oem horn vs air horn conflict was that Denali's wiring diagram seems to enable both.  However, I forgot that the OEM circuit is needed to connect the horn switch to the air horn.  So, installing both OEM and air horns, was never in the picture.  🙄  But, at least I read the directions before I install stuff, even if I don't always understand what I'm reading.  🙃😁

 

Regarding placement, I'd read about positioning the horn to avoid taking water up inside, kind of just common sense, and the problems others have had with their horn impacting the fender (or other things) on compression, as well.  The latter is kind of why I decided just to spend a couple more bucks on Denali's bracket, i.e. it should fit on mine like all other RT's, avoiding the problem, where crafting a bracket might be a repetitive process, to get the horn to fit under all conditions.   

 

The "weird sound" story had me chuckling.  Nothing worse than hearing a "new, weird sound", and wondering "now what did I do?!" or "what broke?"  as you wiz down the road at speed.  Just goes to show, every change to OEM has potential unexpected consequences that we should be prepared for.  But hey, I guess that's part of the motorcycling adventure, right?  🤣

 

Thanks, as always.   🍻👍