Joss Stone sang, “I could never be your number 2…” That’s pretty much all I heard before my maniacal Jr. High boy laughter kicked in…
Man Stuff – Air Horn on a Motorcycle!!!
I did DUDE stuff today!
-My mom bought me a Stebel Nautilus Motorcycle Air Horn for Christmas. It’s a Stebel Nautilus, and it’s the best (and loudest) gift ever! It was a bit of a project figuring out the right way to mount it to my bike and wire it into the electrical system in a way that wouldn’t fry all my existing beep-circuits. After running a couple errands with my dad in the morning, he suggested we get the horn wired in and GET LOUD.
-I found a template for fabricating a bracket for my specific bike on KLR650.net. For my bike, the horn basically has to be mounted partially up under the gas tank, behind the coolant reservoir on the right side. Nutty! My dad and I set out to try and round up all the right parts for the job…
-I had trouble finding thick enough sheet aluminum at the local hardware stores… As I was searching for something else I could use, I came across a framing tie that looked like it would work PERFECTLY. The dimensions of its wrap-around arms were quite similar. At the “right price” of $6.00, I thought I’d give it a go.
Comparing the cardboard template to the tie…
-I just cut one side off the tie and trimmed it to length. Made my bend at the same spot as my template (after cutting the other flange off). It worked out great! And it saved me the hassle of running around to more spots looking for thicker aluminum sheeting.
Checking clearances… All good!
-The new Stebel draws so much more electricity than the stock horn that you have to re-wire things a bit to avoid starting electrical fires under your ass when you HONK it. It comes with a beefy relay that plugs into the circuit in place of the old horn. Then current straight from the moto’s battery runs through the relay and into the air horn.
-So basically instead of the old red bugle button triggering your new horn and frying its circuits, it now triggers the RELAY which allows beefier current to pass on through IT to the new shrieker. WHEW! I got a Stebel-specific wiring kit for a quick and easy time with it. Pop helped babysit my electrical work so that I didn’t burn the house down garage-first… I think everyone is happy about that.
Mounted the fuse and relay next to the Stebel and ran the ground to the bracket.
-I buttoned up the bike again and installed some new Acerbis Rally Pro Handguards since I was in the mood to wrench. And since I seem to enjoy accidentally dropping my bike in my family and friends’ driveways. Now I should break fewer clutch levers.
Acerbis Rally Pros on muh handy-holds…
-I tested the new setup all out (as you can see at the end of the video)… It works AWESOME! And it’s almost as loud as my dad when he snores! I pity tha ears of tha next fool who tries to take my lane from me… =)
Love and “honk”ies,
=j.lynn
Jose Galvez – “Press”
I sang BGVs all over this thang! Jose Galvez – “Press”
Love and background vocals,
=j.lynn