|
First the research, now the reality, and the reality is ...... Let me start by summarising the alternatives in ascending order as best I am able: 1. OEM horn about as effective as a f*rt under the bed covers - 1 out of 10 for effort. 2. The popular Stebel Magnum is boarderline OK, supremely easy to fit, better than the OEM but that is about where it ends - you will not put off WVM with this excuse for a horn. Maybe 3 out of 10. 3. Stebel Magnum + OEM horn is a cost effective way C.£12 (Halfords) mounted back to back - SEE above post - of improving matters and which for around town is on the way towards doing the trick BUT on the open road and against against WVM is still woefully lacking. Possibly 5 out of 10. 4. Stebel Nautilus Compact. Halfords kindly 'loaned' me one now returned (actually they were very helpful as I was shelling out the cash and they understood what I was trying to achieve). This is a LOUD horn but NOT in your air horn league. It is very easy to fit as it will fit where the OEM horn goes and does not stick out too far. Needs a relay but this is NOT hard to implant. These would rate on my Richter scale as 7.5 out of 10 mainly due to the fact that they are EASY to install but a bit ugly. 5. Ring air horn (actually a Fiamm CR2 from Halfords) promises to be very good indeed. There is NO DOUBT having gone down the air horn route that if you want LOUD air horns IS the way to go. I still have not tried these but they are Fiamm and will be good. They are also really cheap for a quality product, Downside is that they will take an afternoon to fit. Upside is that they will look terrific, be very loud and reasonably priced. Even without hearing but having used Fiamm air horns in a past life I would say between 8 and 9 out of 10. 6. Now the KING of the HILL stuff. The Stebel GP3 is a 3 horn unit. Not only is it difficult to fit the third (the largest) horn but the whole unit does not sound as loud with the 3 trumpets as it does with the 2 smaller (the Ferrari 355 configuration) trumpets only. I wonder if this is something to do with the compressor output - in years gone bye the compressors were a good bit larger and were lubed by oil, I suspect they also had a larger 'puff' factor. These are, all I can say is this set up is piercingly LOUD. I have been sitting here for 1/2 an hour since I finished fitting the horns and my ears are still ringing and the tone is simply This has got to rate 9.5 out of 10. They do look good, sound wonderful and are truly loud, the loud I have been looking for - WVM eat your heart out, this is heart attack time !! -------------------------------------------------
FITTING THE STEBEL GP3 AIR HORNS (but using only the mid and higher frequency trumpets of the same frequency as used on the Ferrari 355): This is a basta*d of a job if you want to do it right. If you are not prepared to do this then don't mess around, go and buy the Stebel Nautilus Compacts, it will take 1/4 the time to fit. The end product though is SHOCK AND AWE and for me it was worth the effort. A year ago in a thread on horns I talked about putting, within reason, the loudest and best looking horns on my Biffer and now I have walked the talk! I am talking about the standard Biffer here not the GT - the side panels need to come off, the side fairing's, both seats off, (if ABS model the n/s rear bodywork will need loostening off), the tank lifted - that's about it. The position of the compressor is important. It will fit under the seat on the non ABS model and in the rear n/s pod on the ABS version. It is crucial that the tubing from the compressor to the trumpets is NOT squeezed in any way particularly make the curves smooth. The relay will sit under the seat for both ABS and non ABS models.  Extra to the air horn pack you will need to buy:
a) An in-line fuse 20 amp (Halfords) - mini or std spade fuse types will do fine. b) 4 mtrs of each red and black 17 amp wire (Halfords). c) A pack of connectors but more specifically you will need 6 female spade connectors 4 for the relay and 2 for the compressor, two male spade connectors to wire from the original horn connections back to the switching side of the relay, two ring connectors one for the compressor to earth and one for the power from battery to in-line fuse. Two pairs of in line bullet connectors to connect the wire from battery to in-line fuse then on to the relay. Buy an assorted box it is easier. d) If you don't already have on you will also need a wire/connector crimping tool (also Halfords). e) Into Homebase and buy 2 meters of 8mm tubing and a roll of plastic electrical tape. f) You will also need a 2.5 to 3 inch straight metal bracket with 4 holes in it onto which you will mount the trumpets and then back to the OEM mounting bracket - Homebase or Focus or B&Q, all should have. g) Finally, if you go the whole Monty as I have done you will need to buy an 8mm Y tubing connector piece (Halfords again) as the RP3 comes with a 4 way connector (the Ring/Fiamm horns with two trumpets have a 3 way connector in the blister pack) and don't forget a handful of cable ties as well.
The length of tubing from either the back of the bike (or in the case of Non ABS models under the seat) does NOT make any difference at all to the 'spool up' time of the horns - the horns sound pretty instantaneously when you press the horn button. There is no easy place to cut into the wiring loom from the horn to power the low tension side of the relay and not wanting to cut the original horn wires I simply ran my relay switching wires from the orig horn terminal wires, did the trick and will make things easier if I ever want to put the OEM horn back. Almost all of the wiring consisted of either 2 or 3 cables so I used the insulating tape to bind together and make it look like an extension to the existing wiring loom, makes a really neat and tidy job. Look at the pictures and the fitting and location is self explanatory and straight forward just fiddly. Take your time routing both the tubing and wire or it will look ghastly. On all the nuts and bolts I used loctite just in case. Make sure you do NOT trap either cable or tubing when you pur the tank back down.  The length of tubing does NOT cause any delay in horn response time. I have tried with a 2 meter tube and it is absolutely fine, no spool up time or anything. What IS important though is that there must be no kink or restriction in the tubing so nice smooth curves required.
WOULD I DO THIS AGAIN? Well I wanted the Bizzo and I certainly got it f I wanted the loudest and most piercing horns out there then YES I would fit air horns but it is quite a task to do properly. If however I wanted to do an 80/20 job that is head and shoulders better than the Magnums and so much easier and quicker to fit than air horns then I would go for the Nautilus Compacts. Frankly, given the effort it took to install the air horns this would be my recommended solution. If I couldn't really be arsed but wanted something better than the OEM horn then I would go for the Magnum and back to back it with the OEM horn.
Andy
|