Denali SoundBomb Compact installation question

[Asymmetrical]

I'm about to order the Denali SoundBomb Compact and have to decide if I should order a bracket to go with it. Unfortunately, I have no flat steel or aluminum stock in my basement to pick from.

 

The factory horn has a short, straight flat steel bracket that attaches at one end to the frame and at the other end to the OEM horn body.

 

If you installed the SoundBomb, were you able to use the OEM bracket for the new horn? Or does this require either a longer and/or bent bracket?

[Rider1200RT]

Lots of looks but no answers and frankly I'd like to know too as the stock horn blows.. (pun intended)

[Oldrider51]

Twistedthrottle.com, http://www.twistedthrottle.com/denali-compact-horn-mounting-bracket-for-bmw-r1200rt-14-16. This link shows a specific bracket for the 2014-17 R1200RT. Maybe this is what you are looking for.

[szurszewski]

Bud has one on his bike and had one sitting on the counter waiting for his "new" GS. I don't know if he had one on his RT but I'll see if I can get him to look at this.

[Bud]

I can not answer the ? on your 1200 RT. I ordered mounting brackets for the two that I have. One on the F 700 GS and for the new sidecar rig I ordered a bracket that clamps to round tubing.

[tallman]

Every review I read talked of major difficulty installing

on faired bikes.

 

That was with the specific mounting bracket.

 

None designed for the RT on the website.

 

Looks like a DIY.

 

Womder if a dual hi/low PIAA still fits?

[Asymmetrical]

That seems to be model specific and should do the trick. Interestingly, Revzilla is showing brackets too, but none identified as dedicated to the RTW.

 

Thanks for the lead.

[Paul De]

I am in the middle of this right now on a 2015 RT. I am about to modify the RTW bracket because it interferes with the left stanchion. Buuut, I was mounting a Stebel Nautilus compact which is virtually identical to the Denali SB compact(operative word virtually). The mounting flange appears to stick out farther on the Stebel unit which is likely the problem. Just living out my version of the old Hertz commercial...not exactly.

 

There may be two other issues with this bracket. The Denali bracket seems to allow generous space between the bracket and the top of the compressor unit holding the horn lower by about 1/2 inch. Maybe this is a must for the sound bomb and a half inch seems trivial but these compact horns do take up some space and I worry any bit closer to interference with the fender on full compression is to be avoided. Also not sure the offset forward on the bracket is really needed as this increases interference with the brake line.

 

Check out the Wunderlich bracket. A simple L bend bracket which is a DYI bracket made in the garage with some 1/8" strap metal, hacksaw, drill, bench vice and a hammer. Thought I would save a little time buying the model specific bracket and now it is a SNFU that will have to be sorted. Sometimes your toast falls butter side down!

[Asymmetrical]

I've ordered the model specific bracket from Twisted Throttle (thanks to 041100S for the link), which I expect to be delivered today. I'll let you all know with a later post how that bracket works.

[Rider1200RT]

Curious if the can bus can handle the amps with the SoundBomb horn....

 

[moshe_levy]

You don't go through the CANbus. Problem solved.

[Paul De]

Yup, use the provided relay with horn circuit wired to the battery or assign a circuit off the HexEzcan CANbus branch circuit dongle. Best I could figure is that the SoundBomb compact or Steebel Nautilus Airhorns will pull about 19-20 amps on compressor spin-up. That would likely throw an error message if wired directly OEM horn circuit.

 

I did wire a Steebel directly to the horn wires on my '99 RT and it worked well.

[Rider1200RT]

Thanks guys, I figured as much... My old GS didn't have those connectivity issues either although I also ran a relay for the Stebel I had.

[Asymmetrical]

Here is my follow-up after receiving and installing the Denali Sound Bomb Compact horn and bracket from Twisted Throttle. A few observations:

 

1. This horn is very loud - but that has been written before, so nothing novel with that.

 

2. The model specific bracket supplied by Twisted Throttle fits perfectly. No interference with the forks or anything else either. Link here:

 

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/denali-compact-horn-mounting-bracket-for-bmw-r1200rt-14-16

 

3. I have an extensive collection of wire and electrical connectors, so I did not order their wiring 'kit'. With three different gauges of wire involved in the wiring and with the addition of a fuse near the battery, I was deep into my inventory of electrical connectors including in one case, the need to mate dissimilar wire gauges. If you don't have a well stocked connector supply, it might be advisable to order their wiring kit. Also, you will be cutting off the OEM horn wiring connector which is very small gauge (20?) and extending it with wire to connect to the included relay, which I upsized to allow for the additional length of the wire run. I probably overkilled with #10 from the battery, but it's clear there is not much voltage drop judging by the loudness of the horn.

 

4. There is not a lot of room to work between the forks, making it highly desirable to have a small 3/8" or 1/4" socket set together with your torx bits so that removal of the old fasteners and installation of the new is simplified, even though not exactly roomy.

 

5. The bracket instructions did not make it clear that the hole used by the OEM horn bracket is not the hole used for the new bracket. I found that out by watching the Hornig you tube video, here:

 

 

6. The old bracket hole and fastener is a great spot for the new ground wire.

 

7. Keep track of the Tupperware fasteners. Some have a long shoulder and some have a short one. If you don't (I didn't), it will be trial and error during re-assembly.

 

It's definitely worth upgrading after hearing the result.

[Skywagon]

thanks for follow up info... A couple of questions.

 

Is there much delay from the time you hit the switch until the horn honks? Is the difference in performance worth it?

[Rider1200RT]

Thanks for the update!

An easy way to remember where the fasteners go, is to see if there are one or two panels to attach to the bike. Two panels is the longer shoulder screw whereas the shorter one only goes through a single panel.

[Asymmetrical]

Skywagon - No delay that I detected, though I wasn't expecting one either, so it is possible there was an insignificant one.

 

Rider1200RT - Thanks for the panel screw tip!

 

 

[Asymmetrical]

Skywagon - I didn't answer your question about whether it was worth making the change. Definitely yes - the OEM horn sounded wimpy/reedy and I questioned whether at speed a car ahead of me turning into my lane would realize I was honking at them.

 

The new horn is unmistakably louder and the dual tone gives it a greater frequency range. Without any real world test, I can't know for sure, but it seems less likely to be missed or ignored.

[Skywagon]

Thanks for response.... will add one shortly...the factory one is pretty much a joke especially compared to my 1150RT which would wake the dead.

Edited April 12, 2017 by Skywagon

[Paul De]

No matter what the stock horn has got to go. That little meeper OEM horn virtually begs for the car driver to ignore the warning and come squish you.