FOAK: Horn replacement

The horn in my Freewind is rather faint so I'm thinking about replacing it
for something with more presence as a good horn is vital to one's survival
in Greece. The most logical thing would probably be to get something from a
scrap car, but I'd like to hear suggestions, potentially including which old
cars have decent OEM horns. Anything that wouldn't require an extra relay
would be more than welcome, internationally available brands preferred, as I
don't reside in the UK (see above). Are two-tone horns worth it? When
single-tone, is low or high better on a bike (I presume high as it's more
"directional")? How many decibels are sufficient?

Also, has anyone had experience with a Stebel Nautilus? Would it add +9
Chavness to my biking stats, or is fitting a 139dB air horn on a bike
actually a decent idea, space constraints notwithstanding?


Geo

 

Matie has a twin horn relay'd Naughty-lus jobbie on his Thundercat,
which is very loud. Or at least it is very loud for a motorcycle - the
desired effect. I have a direct replacement single tone non-compressor
type Naughty-lus, which is a bit louder than my OEM horn, with a
richer tone.

 

The Stebel is *bloody* loud, but the claimed dB(A) figure is a total
con, it being measured close to the horn (about 30cm), rather than at
one metre.


--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House

 

Actually, that made me think that a horn that sumulates the sound of
screeching tyres might be effective. Then I figured that the dozy
recipient would probably simply turn to stare owlishly to watch the
crash.

 

I've fitted a Stiebel Nautilus on my last 3 bikes.

Nice and loud, especially if you accidentally set it off when your ear
is next to it.

 

On my first BX, it was remarkably easy to lock all four wheels with a stab
at the brake pedal. On more than one occasion, I used this technique to
encourage errant clots to get back in lane. Very effective it was.

 

Similar to what happened with one of mine - a bloke walked out from
behind a furniture van and the sound of the horn & tyres sent a signal
from his brain to his legs. Unfortunately the signal was "Riverdance"
and he did a sort Michael Flatley impression without actually leaving my
intended path.

Luckily my braking was better than his dancing, but it must have taken
years off his life.

 

What's the point, if you're riding properly there is almost no need for
a horn anyway.

I'll repeat what I said a few months ago - in the past 10 years I must
have used my horn no more than 3 times for it's intended purpose.

--
Lozzo
Suzuki SV650S K5
Honda CBR600 FW trackbike
Yamaha SR250 Spazz-Trakka
Suzuki GSXR750 L
Suzuki TS50X
Suzuki TS50X

 

I heard one a couple of weeks ago and it's nicely attention-grabbing, I
think. The 139dB is measures at four inches - it's 115dB at two metres
(http://www.stebel.it/). Space constraints: there's a "Compact" model which
is smaller than the standard Nautilus (12 x 11 x 7cms), it needs to be
mounted with the compressor within 15 degrees of vertical and a relay is
recommended. I'll be buying one myself in the next couple of days (although
why this should affect your decision making I can't imagine).

 

The New Forest is where old people come to die, but once they get here
they take up driving instead. The horn is often a good way of pointing
out to them that there may be other people on the road so maybe they
should look away from the ponies before pulling out of the car park
entrance.

I can avoid the ones in front, but when they are coming at you from the
side it can be helpful to confuse them just long enough for you to get
past before they shoot out.

Yebbut when you do need the horn it's less stressful if hitting the
button produces something that will make them think bike, not duck.

 

I use my time in those circumstances to take avoiding action or brake
heavily, not fumble for the horn button.

--
Lozzo
Suzuki SV650S K5
Honda CBR600 FW trackbike
Yamaha SR250 Spazz-Trakka
Suzuki GSXR750 L
Suzuki TS50X
Suzuki TS50X

 

Heh. Way up there ^ I was originally going to post the advice I was
given when I started driving - if you have time to use the horn you have
time to take avoding action instead, but I thought I'd go for
recommending the Stiebel.

I must admit my first reaction is always to brake or swerve rather than
use the horn - that means I'm relying on myself rather than the other
person.

 

Heh.
Similar to an emergency stop of mine in which a woman appeared from
round the front of bus at a red light, just as I was trundling up the
last yard or two. She screamed and threw herself on the ground in front
of me. I must've been doing oh... 5mph or so and it was a jolly close
run thing whether I was going to run her over or piss myself.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House

 

Oh, it always helps to know that someone's already done what you're
considering, either as a recommendation or a cautionary tale. So far there
seem to be enough instances in this newsgroup that suggest it's not a bad
idea.


Geo.

 

That's probably only slightly fewer times than I have. having said
that, I've used a horn twic in the last month or so: once polite
double-toot (though it's difficult not to sound aggressive with the
Guzzi's twin horns) when filtering stationary traffic where people
were opening car doors to oggle the burning truck at the head of the
queue; the other was last weekend when some dozy bint wanted to do a
U-turn at a busy mini roundabout - a U-turn that did not actually
involve going round the island itself.

 

The answer is simple.

 

Nautilus, FFS.

 

<mind bleach>
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House

 

Got a Stebel on the 9R and another ones going on the bimmer.

They are good. And loud. And nice and compact so fairly easy to hide.

Not as loud as straight set of 2 air horns, but they're a PITA to fit
to a bike.

 

Going along the A41 dual carriageway, outside lane, busy-ish.

Some blind **** inna suit comes along slip road and just starts pulling
into the side of me, doesn't look, jabbering away on mobile.

1 blast of horn and the phone jumps out of his hand, he jumps too and
almost steers the car off the inside of the road in fright.

"almost" no need != "no" need.