Louder horn

[veeger]

The Stebel is awesome! It mounted where the original horn was. Shop compressed the forks and found enough clearance. I road tested it by bottoming out (wasn't my intent) and it did not hit front fender. It is dual tone and LOUD! Coulda gone without the chrome as you really can't see it but it's done. Now if Kawasaki only located the horn button a little closer.....
veeger

[jaster]

I added a PIAA horn a few days ago. It's a 115 dB and only pulls 5 amps, same as the factory horn, so no relay. While not the 139 dB from the Stebel or Bad Boy air horns, it's more compact, fits easily (after bending the mount) and is still pretty darn loud. When I pulled the factory horn, it is imprinted 105 dB, pretty mild for a motorcycle horn.

Here's the problem with dB ratings... What distance was the sound measured? Stebel lists the NAUTILUS COMPACT as:
115 dB/139 dB (at 2 meters/at 4 inches from the source)

I believe 2m is the industrial standard for dB measurements (feel free to correct me). I can't find at what distance PIAA horns are tested but it's possible they're just as loud as the Stebel.

A note about the wiring. My XII came with Freeway Blasters wired to the horn switch. I discovered this when I tried to use the horns at an intersection and got nothing. If the bike wasn't running around 1000RPM, the horn wouldn't work. Adding a relay is all it took to get the horn working at idle. I replaced the horns anyway because I didn't know how old they were or if the low voltage could have caused any harm (doubtful but new ones were on sale for $20).

[Fooch]

Although I'd love to get the Stebel, I'm trying to keep things simple and avoid the relay if possible. vmaxed and 1st one are using the Freeway Blaster. jhellman is using the PIAA horn. All are rated at 5 amps and jhellman said that is what the stock horn draws. So either one of those horns may do the trick for me and sounds like they don't need a relay if they draw similar amps to the stock horn. There's no follow up from these 3 users so if any of you could please post how these horns do I'd appreciate it. If all else fails, I'll probably go the Stebel route.

Thanks,
Fooch

[David (N. Alabama)]

Although I'd love to get the Stebel, I'm trying to keep things simple and avoid the relay if possible. vmaxed and 1st one are using the Freeway Blaster. jhellman is using the PIAA horn. All are rated at 5 amps and jhellman said that is what the stock horn draws. So either one of those horns may do the trick for me and sounds like they don't need a relay if they draw similar amps to the stock horn. There's no follow up from these 3 users so if any of you could please post how these horns do I'd appreciate it. If all else fails, I'll probably go the Stebel route.

Thanks,
Fooch

If it doesn't draw more power I doubt it is any louder. Might have a different tone, but I doubt it would be louder.

Come by and I will help you wire up the relay.

[Fooch]

Although I'd love to get the Stebel, I'm trying to keep things simple and avoid the relay if possible. vmaxed and 1st one are using the Freeway Blaster. jhellman is using the PIAA horn. All are rated at 5 amps and jhellman said that is what the stock horn draws. So either one of those horns may do the trick for me and sounds like they don't need a relay if they draw similar amps to the stock horn. There's no follow up from these 3 users so if any of you could please post how these horns do I'd appreciate it. If all else fails, I'll probably go the Stebel route.

Thanks,
Fooch

If it doesn't draw more power I doubt it is any louder. Might have a different tone, but I doubt it would be louder.

Come by and I will help you wire up the relay.

Thanks for the invite. I wish I had the time to come up there and get out of HOT Floriduh for a while. Maybe someday.

[Fooch]

Learn something new every day. Thanks to jhellman and 1st one for their assistance. I was unable to find the FIAMM Freeway Blaster at a local store. Somehow, I found one on the NAPA website. But it's the BALKAMP brand, same exact horn. I learned that BALKAMP is a subsidiary of NAPA. It's other companies products with BALKAMP packaging sold in NAPA stores. The horn itself even says FIAMM. I mounted the horn on the top radiator bolt. It gives the horn a little more clearance since it's thicker then the stock horn. Like was said above, it's no Stebel, but it fit the bill. Please check out my installed pic and give me any criticisms/suggestions you may have.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Catal ... 0006392723

[1st one]

looks good you could mount its twin on the other side L.O.L.

[Fooch]

But then I'd probably need the relay which would defeat the whole point of keeping it simple . It's all trial and error anyway. Check back in a year and see if the Stebel is there.

[hank43]

Now this is a horn! Just mount this dude on the front fender, tank and compressor in the trunk, yer good to go!

http://www.assuredautomotiveproducts.co ... oductId=82

hank43

[hank43]

If you don't want to spend that much, a pair of horns off of a Buick Roadmaster (Like a 1950 model) work pretty good too.

hank