Horn Selection for NT

tawilke46

tawilke46

Joined
Nov 26, 2011
Messages
343
Location
Baton Rouge, La
Does anyone know of a more potent aftermarket horn for the NT that is a straight up replacement of the OEM horn? Unbolt OEM horn, bolt in new horn?
Would prefer not to fool with wiring, relays, etc. if it is not necessary.:shrug2:
 
With the low current capacity of the existing wiring it is going to be really hard to get much more noise... The Horn is on a 10Amp fuse that also has the front and rear brake light switches on the circuit. That is why most folks go with a wiring kit to use the stock wiring to control a relay with heavier gauge wiring back to the battery...

Eastern Beaver makes some very nice "plug and play" Horn wiring kits with relays and heavier wiring at a reasonable price.... Pick the new horn you want then get a wiring kit to match it...
 
If you look at the space allowed for the stock horn, there isn't anything in the aftermarket that will fit into that tiny space
and as Wayne mentioned, the standard wires are about the size of speaker wire! I mounted two Fiamm horns, one on each
side + a relay and it sounds great plus can be heard at a great distance.
 
I had a left over stebel and was able to mount it I the right side fairing. Tight fit but works!
 
"" said:
Being the cheap man that I am, I found a FIAMM Technologies single horn down at my local NAPA for 20 bucks. It calls for (only) a 10 Amp fuzed circuit - same as stock - and I found that it draws only 5 amps. I'm going to try a simple replacement and see how that goes. (They claim 132 Db (doubtful, but it WAS very load when I tried it via battery.)
Click to expand...

How did that work out for you?
 
tawilke46 said:
Does anyone know of a more potent aftermarket horn for the NT that is a straight up replacement of the OEM horn? Unbolt OEM horn, bolt in new horn?
Would prefer not to fool with wiring, relays, etc. if it is not necessary.:shrug2:
Click to expand...

I remember chuck twlling me that he has found something that he thinks is bettr / louder than the Nautius Stebil while we were at Rocky's in colrado Colorado but my memory doesn't remember what I was

eldon
 
Harbor Freight knock offs of the FIAMM dual tone horns. $10.00 for the pair. I put a set on my Wee and I have a set of Fiamms on my ST1300. When my next major service comes up again on the NT I will take my Stebil out and put a set of 10 dollar HF knock offs in. I think they are louder and there is no compressor to go bad overtime because of heat. That is what happened to the Stebils on the ST1300. YMMV

PS: These are NOT bolt in replacement for STOCK
 
Last edited:
"" said:
Yep, it's good. Much better than stock. Not as melodic or loud as a dual blower, but deer DO look at me and then move on. I'm very happy w it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like I may go that route. I am not crazy about the compressor driven ones as they are prone to failure after a few years of heat exposure from what I have read. Since I live in Central Texas, heat exposure is a factor. I don't want to have a horn that fails when I need it.
 
What is the Db rating of the stock horn?
Just wondering, Clint
 
daler said:
What is the Db rating of the stock horn?
Click to expand...
According to the EC norms: <100db(A), non -frightening sound mandatory... no I'm not kidding... beats the purpose...

After several encounters with ignorant smombies within the vault-like silence of their SUV's also my GF complains about the road-runner thingy, AKA acoustic warning device provided...
(probably over witnessing the effectiveness of the FIAMM horns installed in my ST1100... #lattelaunch šŸ˜ˆ )

So I'm considering similar upgrade for her NT700...

Intending to install two additional snail horns of this type/design:

51bx55xL8zS._AC_SL1492_.jpg


powered by a waterproof heavy duty 30A relay, fused feed directly from the battery, coil energized parallel from the OEM horn; so all 3 will blare and in case my farkle fails at least the OEM still beeps on...


Of course is the ST more spacious then the NT:


IMG_1750.JPG


Will have to find the space for a similar setup within the NT fairing...
 
Be aware that the electrical system on the NT700 doesn't have a lot of spare capacity. In cold weather, if you're running heated grips on high and, possibly, DRLs then a powerful horn like the Denali Sound Bomb which draws a lot of power won't always function - DAMHIK!!

What I did was I kept the stock horn and used it as the trigger for the relay of a louder horn (tapped into the cable). If you run out of power for the louder horn, the stock horn will still sound.

Try the PIAA dual motorcycle horn - they take very little extra power
 
JQL said:
What I did was I kept the stock horn and used it as the trigger for the relay of a louder horn (tapped into the cable). If you run out of power for the louder horn, the stock horn will still sound.
Click to expand...
What I wrote above... ;)
Doubt that the horns will have enough running time to drain the NOCO LiFePO4, but they'll surely receive enough juice from it...
 
ST1100Y said:
What I wrote above... ;)
Doubt that the horns will have enough running time to drain the NOCO LiFePO4, but they'll surely receive enough juice from it...
Click to expand...
Even with a LiFePO4, in cold weather with the Grips on high an Air Horn will fail. It happened to me a number of times so I changed out my Denali for something that draws (a lot) less power.
 
JQL said:
Even with a LiFePO4, in cold weather with the Grips on high an Air Horn will fail. It happened to me a number of times so I changed out my Denali for something that draws (a lot) less power.
Click to expand...
Dunno... my ST1100 runs the very same NOCO NLP14 with 2x 60/55W H4 headlight (+ 2x 5W running lights), 4x 21W t/signals, 2x 21/5W tail, Sony car stereo, h-handles, intercom and mentioned horns tapped occasionally with no issues...
And the horns in question are electric, not compressor driven...
 
Electric horns have never given me a problem. The Compressor ones draw enormous amounts of power on start up and that is what causes the failure
 
JQL said:
The Compressor ones draw enormous amounts of power on start up and that is what causes the failure
Click to expand...
They're also mechanically sensitive; a Denali truck-horn barely lasted 3 weeks in the panel-van...
But air-horns were never considered due the space requirements.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JQL
The mini Denali was a good fit and lasted me about 4 years or so. You could split the trumpet from the compressor which allowed for a multitude of mounting options.
 
Those dual Fiamms mentioned in my original post from Dec 2011 failed after a few months but they did sound lovely!

I went with a Stebel and because of the tight confines of the NT's skin, I separated the horn from the compressor using careful work with a hacksaw! The compressor was easily mounted under the left fairing pocket and the horn was mounted just beneath the left tipover winglet and that took some doing because the space is minimal. I had to make a hose fitting on my lathe so a hose could be run from the compressor to the horn but I'd guess such fittings are available from various suppliers. And I believe Stebel or one of the clones now offers a horn with the compressor and horn as separate pieces.

The Stebel makes a MIGHTY noise and gets the attention of anyone even remotely close. It does require a key-on relay with hard wiring from the battery. I have a digital voltmeter on my NT, and when the Stebel is depressed the battery drops approx -1.5V but it's only momentary. :)
 
Last edited:
I run small air compressor powered air horns on all my bikes. From Stebel Nautilus style to large trumpet with hose attached. I've never had a battery failure or other items shut off. The horn is an intermittent load, even with aggressive use for morons paying no attention. Stock wiring goes to coil side of new relay. New fused tap from battery goes to switched side of relay -> horn + / horn - to ground.

I have had cold weather issues, but this is the nature of the horn and diaphragm, not an electrical thing. Moisture and cold air horn parts like to stick. I usually give a couple test toots when I start out in the cold to free everything up.
 
If the wiring from the battery to the horn is of sufficient ampacity, the battery should have enough reserve capacity to give a good toot or two without a serious voltage drop.

Mike
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom