Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Horn

Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Horn Installation on 2003 V-Star 1100 Classic & Review

One of the items on my Christmas list last year was a Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Horn for my 2003 V-Star 1100 Classic, named Mistress. Oh, did I mention they come in chrome? When Christmas came around my dear wife informed me she had ordered the horn I wanted and an installation kit to go with it. I could hardly wait for it to come in.

It came in the next week. I learned that my wife had ordered the Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Air Horn from Twisted Throttle. She also had ordered their Plug-N-Play wiring installation kit. I checked to make sure everything was there, and it was. The Horn itself came with a relay, one mounting bolt, one mounting nut, one mounting bracket adapter for mounting the horn separate from the small air pump, and directions. Twisted Throttles wiring kit came with, pre-wired relay connector, horn ground wire, two blue Posi-Lock connectors, one 30 amp ATC fuse, one six inch wire tie, six four inch wire ties, wiring directions and electrical schematic.

I decided to install the horn when I replaced the battery on my V-Star. I started by removing my Corbin Dual Tourer seat. That is accomplished by removing both seat lean backs and the nut and washers at the rear of the seat. Then I lifted the seat assembly up from the rear while pulling the assembly rearward unhooking it from the seat holders. I made sure the fuel valve was turned to the off position, removed the fuel line, and disconnected the wiring harness going to the instrument cluster, removed the two bolts from the fuel tank bracket, removed the front ignitor unit panel quick fastener and removed the fuel tank.

With those out of the way I removed the battery side cover, disconnected the negative battery cable and then the positive cable. I went on and replaced the battery which you do not have to remove to install the Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Air Horn. I opened the wiring harness and horn packages and spread everything out ready for the install.

First I installed the relay and fuse into the wiring harness setting the relay part of the harness near where I would be mounting it under the seat. I routed the red power wire down to the battery positive cable area ready to hook up. I snaked the black and blue wires, which come twisted together, from the relay along the factory wiring harness route up to where the Original Equipment horn is located. I had previously replaced the OEM horn with a Fiamm Freeway Blaster Horn.

This is where I deviated from the instructions that came with the wiring kit. I wanted to keep the Fiamm Freeway Blaster horn hooked up so I could use both the Fiamm and the Stebel Nautilus Compact at the same time. I accomplished this by employing two Quick Splice connectors that I had on hand in my electrical supplies. I attached one to the positive, and one to the negative OEM horn wires. These simply crimp connect onto the wire using pliers. The center of the connector pinches through the wires insulation making the connection for the attached female lug. This made easy hook ups for the wiring kits male spades on the black and blue wires, blue to the positive brown horn wire and black to the negative pink horn wire.

Next I snaked the yellow wires from the relay along the factory harness under the fuel tank area and down to where I was going to mount the Stebel Horn by the rear brake master cylinder. Now it was time to mount the horn assembly itself. I had picked up a scrap piece of bracket and now needed to tweak it into the correct shape and make the mounting hole for the horn larger to fit the bolt that came with the horn.

I held the metal and horn up together where I wanted to mount the horn assembly next to the rear brake master cylinder to check clearances and get some idea where to bend the bracket. I then bent the metal bracket and re checked clearances. That done, I drilled out the hole in the end where the bolt from the horn assembly would go. The other end already had a hole to mount to the rear brake master cylinder bracket. I then removed the brake master cylinder mounting bolt and added in the new horn bracket and horn ground lead supplied by the wiring kit, and reinstalled.

Now that I had the new horn mounting bracket in place I attached the Stebel Horn assembly to it using the supplied mounting bolt and nut, making sure the horn was mounted in the correct orientation and angle as per the instructions. I hooked up the yellow power wire from the relay to the Stebel Horn power connector. Next, I connected the negative black wire from the ground at the rear brake master cylinder and the just added horn bracket, to the negative connector of the Stebel Horn.

I finished up installing the new battery by connecting all the positive leads and then the negative leads. I attached the Stebel Horn relay to the frame using a tie strap. I reinstalled the fuel tank and reconnected the electrical harness. It was time to test the horn before I put everything back together on the bike. I turned the key to the on position and hit the horn button. There was a slight delay after hitting the horn button from when the Fiamm Freeway Blaster starts and the Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Horn kicks in. It takes a split second for the Nautilus’s air pump to get pressure to the horn. It’s worth the wait.

The Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Horn is loud. It is rated at 139 decibels and I believe it’s every bit of that. It is way louder than the Fiamm Freeway Blaster. It sounds like an 18 wheelers horn. Here is an excerpt from the Twisted Throttle website:

“Keep this in mind: sound energy doubles for every 3 points you go up in the decibel scale. It means that the Stebel Nautilus horn, which produces 139 dB of sound, puts out a LOT more sound than these popular horns: - 800% of the sound energy of the more expensive 130dB FIAMM Freeway Blaster; - 600% louder than the $140, 130 dB Pro Pad Mini Beast horn; - 650% louder than the $179, 128dB Rivco dual trumpet horn.”

Lastly I used the supplied wire ties to secure all loose wiring out of the way. I buttoned up the bike in reverse order of the disassembly and got it ready again to ride.

Just the other day I had the opportunity to use the Nautilus Compact Air Horn. It was on my commute home westbound on SH183 around Hurst Texas. A vehicle whose driver was not paying attention, was unaware or uncaring started drifting over from the center lane into the fast lane while I was in it. I guess even with his window down he could not hear my

Cobra exhaust next to him above all the traffic noise. I hammered on the horn button and the Stebel responded with a very loud honk. He stopped moving into my lane but was still straddling the white line so I just sped up and got out of there.

The Nautilus Horn worked as designed and I was very happy with how loud it is above the sounds of the traffic. The installation on my V-Star 1100 Classic was not that complicated. It can be installed by someone with an average mechanical ability and electrical aptitude. Torch gives the Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Air Horn a M.M.M. Rating of 9 out of 10.

Ride on,
Torch

Where Is Your Horn Button?

The D/FW traffic reputation has been notoriously bad, and probably for good reasons. There is one intersection in Grapevine Texas that I go through at least once a day Monday through Friday and sometimes on Saturday. It is the first intersection I go through on my way home from work. It is the intersection at Grapevine Main Street and State Highway 114 on the north side of SH114. Even when driving a cage through this intersection I have had too many close encounters and near misses to count.

Traveling west bound on the SH114 access road you come the intersection at Grapevine Main Street. There are three lanes to choose from. The far right lane is for right turn only onto Main Street headed north. The far left lane is to turn left on Main Street headed south or continue straight west bound on the SH114 access road. The center lane is to continue straight west bound on the SH114 access road.

Map Link

Street View
　
The problems start when vehicles in the center lane attempt to turn left onto Main Street headed south. They turn left in front of the vehicles that have opted to go straight through the light. That is the most common traffic mistake that you see at this intersection. However, I have also experienced people in the far right turn only lane going straight causing three vehicles to attempt to fit into the two lanes available on the other side of the stoplight. There is no telling how many traffic accidents have happened at this intersection. I have almost been hit three to four times in various vehicles, all when going straight from the far left lane.

There are several reasons that I feel that this happens. First is that people do not pay attention to the traffic signs. Unless a larger vehicle blocks your view, you can clearly see the sign on the left showing that the far left lane can turn left or go straight. I you scroll closer to the stoplight you can see it is also clearly marked with a large sign that the center lane is to go straight only, the far right is to go right only. On top of that, the arrows, although worn, are also painted on the road itself indicating which lanes can go which direction. I feel they need to add a solid line across the intersection for the drivers in the center lane to follow in an attempt to keep them from turning left. When will people learn that if you are in the wrong lane there is always another intersection ahead you can turn around at?

The second issue is that the coming from the opposite direction at the stoplight on the other side of the bridge, it is different. Going the other direction the far left lane is left turn only. The center lane can turn left or go straight. The far right lane is still right turn only. I feel that making it different on each side of the bridge makes it confusing for the sheep, I mean, drivers.

So, there I was nine months later since making my Fiamm Freeway Blaster Low Note horn upgrade to my V-Star 1100. I had just gotten off work and I was setting at the stoplight at SH114 East bound at the Grapevine Main Street intersection. I was in the far left lane; a few vehicles back, waiting for the light to turn green. I was going to go straight through the light and hop on State Highway 121 Southbound for home.

The light turned green and I twisted the throttle on Mistress and started to go. As soon as I started to enter the intersection, a large dark pickup truck of unknown make, in the center lane besides and ahead of me, turned left cutting me off. I slammed on both brakes at the same time almost coming to a stop. When I could see the truck was going to pass by with out me becoming a fender molding, my left thumb went for the horn button. My thumb, instead of hitting the horn button hit the headlamp high beam switch instead. By now the encroaching truck was long gone. I twisted the throttle, hoped on S.H.121 and was gone.

The good news was, I was able to slow down quickly and gracefully and had avoided an accident. Hitting the high beam switch instead of the horn was embarrassing. I’m writing this to remind all the motorcycle riders out there to be familiar with all the controls on their bike of choice. I knew where the horn button was. I panicked and hit the wrong one. Practice, practice, practice, until you can get them all with your eyes closed. Where is your horn button?

Ride on,
Torch

Fiamm Freeway Blaster Horn Installation & Review

Alternate Title: Torch’s First V-Star Mod/Upgrade

Before I started using my ’03 Yamaha V-Star 1100, I wanted to give her a good "T-CLOCS" inspection. I learned about the "T-Clocks" pre-ride checklist when I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundations Basic Riders Course. You can download your own "T-CLOCS" checklist to print and use here.

"T-CLOCS" Stands for:

T-Tires & Wheels
C-Controls
L-Lights
O-Oil
C-Chassis
S-Stands

While performing this inspection I noticed what I feel is a shocking omission on the MSF’s pre-ride inspection list. I could not find the horn listed anywhere. I even used the PDF file document search and it came up empty, so I knew it was not just my oversight. If you use their list I suggest adding, "Horn if equipped," under the lighting or control section.

So, I performed my "T-CLOCS" pre-ride inspection and hit the horn button. Mistress, (my nickname for the motorcycle,) let out a soft, timid "meep" sound. I laughed out loud. Then I remembered a real humorous thread on the V-Star 1100 Riders Forum about the 1100’s apathetic Original Equipment Model horn. Someone on the forum actually coined the sound that the OEM horn makes on a V-Star as "meep". I did not think much more about it at the time.

After commuting to work for a couple of weeks in stop and go D/FW traffic, I had to opportunity to use the horn. It was the classic cage changing into my lane without looking. For those who do not know, a cage was a vehicle driving on four or more wheels. I hit the horn button on this big, bad, Yamaha, V-Star, 1100cc monster of a bike I was riding and it responded with the anemic "meep" sound. I’m not sure the sound was even audible over all the traffic noise. I could sense the other drivers around me laughing. I knew then it was time to change out the OEM horn. It had, in fact, become the first thing that I wanted to change on the bike.

Not long after that I found myself in the local Pep Boys Auto store looking at replacement horns. I saw the Fiamm Freeway Blasters and grabbed a Low Note Horn. I figured the low note would give a larger sound, which was definitely what I wanted. I got home and read the simplistic directions. I also referenced the V-Star 1100 Riders Knowledge Base in the Horn section. It appeared that it was pretty much plug-n-play. Always remember, appearances can be deceiving. Your mileage may very, as they say.

I went to the garage and started the install. The first thing was to remove the pathetic OEM horn. It had only one bolt attaching it to the upper frame between the down tubes. Once unbolted, I pulled the electrical connector off the OEM horn and it was now off the bike. That part was easy enough.

I then compared the two horns. There were a couple differences. One was that the Fiamm Freeway Blaster wiring connectors were a lot farther apart than the OEM horn connector. I thought about this dilemma and decided I could do one of two things. I could cut the OEM plastic connector in half down the middle, or fabricate a jumper harness using spade lugs and wire. I reached for my favorite knife clipped in my left front pocket and carefully cut the wiring connector in two. My favorite knife was a Kershaw Leek Speed-Safe Assisted Opening Knife my wife had given to me for Christmas. I figured it would be less obtrusive than reaching into my right front pocket and pulling out my Kel-Tec P3AT .380 and just blasting the connector.

The second difference is that the Freeway Blaster horn is larger that the OEM horn. I held the Fiamm supplied bracket up to the bike mounting spot and noted that it was too short. Then I noticed the bracket on the OEM still attached to it. So, I removed the OEM bracket from the OEM horn and held it up with the Fiamm Horn to the V-Star. The bracket went the wrong way and the horn would not fit properly. I scratched my head, flipped the OEM bracket upside down and held the Fiamm horn back up to the bike. It looked like it would work.

I attached the OEM horn bracket upside down on the Freeway Blaster. Then I attached it to the bike, bending the bracket slightly to position it correctly. I hooked up the electrical connectors I previously had set free to the new horn. I turned the key on and hit the horn button. Now it sounded like a real horn with a much deeper sound. It was not supper loud, but was definitely louder than the OEM. You can hear a sound clip at the Fiamm website here.

I noticed that the Fiamm horn protrudes out farther than the OEM. I had read of people installing horns on motorcycles and not allowing for the fender travel. This would lead to the fender hitting the horn and damaging the paint or fender. So, as a precaution, I made one more modification to the Freeway Blaster. I took a hacksaw to the front plastic portion of the horn that sticks out and lopped it off. Now I was done.

As far as a review the Fiamm Freeway Blaster Low Note Horn works as advertised. I’ve had it on for a year now and works when called upon. Eventually I want to also install an air horn on my Mistress. Torch gives the Fiamm Freeway Blaster a MMM rating of 8 on a scale of 1-10.

Ride on,
Torch