kolonial72
Well-known member
Yay another project down! This one was the Wolo Bad Boy air horn (same as Stebel Nautilus minus $15 bucks or so) purchased at Pep Boys. As promised, I DID take some pics! I missed a few good ones, and one did not come out well. But hey, I’m getting better. (Please pat me knowingly on the top of my head and say, “There, there little one.”)
Preparations included obtaining a few bowls from the kitchen to contain fasteners removed during the process. Incidentally, the only fastener I did not put into one of these bowls was lost for a short time. I was lucky to find it again. I also grabbed a large, thin blanket from our “rag” pile and an extra towel.
Also, due to space constraints, it was necessary to split the compressor/horn unit. (Sorry, these were the pics I did not think of until it was too late!) They come as one piece, with the semicircular brackets on the horn wrapped around the compressor and the compressor discharge nipple (with little yellow o-ring) stuck into the air horn, I dunno, call it a receiving hole. The process of separating them involves breaking the little lock tab that holds the nipple in the hole. This is located between the compressor and the horn. Next, I gently pried apart the semicircular brackets about 0.25” and simultaneously pushed up on the bottom of the compressor with my thumbs. I kept the little o-ring, but ended up not using it. Because I lost it.
First thing I did to the motorcycle was remove the right side fairing, including dash panels C and D and the inner and lower-middle fairing. Didn’t really need any directions for this, it was fairly intuitive. Someone on this forum posted a phrase, “Try before you pry.” That was pretty much all the direction I used.
After removing the right side stock horn (the left side stock horn remained hooked up and it still works), I tried to mount the compressor on the bracket that the stock horn had been on. This was not the best location for a couple of reasons. The biggest concern I had about this was the amount of free play or wiggle the heavy compressor had when I gently pushed or pulled on it. Imagine the compressor moving back and forth a bunch while you are riding, and eventually causing the bracket or fasteners to fatigue. Also the bolt holding the compressor in might have been able to worry away at the radiator end cap. Not to mention the amount of cutting that would have been necessary on the inner fairing.
As it turns out, this was a nice little location for my latest toy:
There was an empty bolt hole on what I believe is the crank case below the engine. The compressor is outlined in purple. There is a yellow arrow pointing at the air compressor discharge nipple. Note that the nut is facing out, and the bolt head is on the compressor side. There is a notch on the comnpressor that slides over the bolt head for mounting. This makes tightening things a little more convenient than if the bolt were faced the other way around.
Next was the horn preparation. I did not do this part until now because of my initial uncertainty about where to place the horn. More on that later.
The Dremel tool was very handy for removing the bracket closest to the horn outlet. Note the hole in the remaining bracket. I put that there for mounting on the stock horn bracket. Turns out this hole was only a pilot hole, as I was off a few sizes. I do not know what size bolt I settled on, I just rummaged around in the toolbox ‘til I found something that worked. The really interesting part is getting the 3/16” vacuum hose attached to the darn receiver hole on the horn. I snipped a 1.5” piece of rigid 3/16” OD tubing and taped it up with electrical tape to get an interference fit with the inside of the horn air receiver hole. (Nod to Wild72 – thanks!) I then put some plumber’s glue on the outside of the tape and slipped the taped rigid tubing inside the horn air receiver hole. The plumber’s glue I used had to set overnight. The vacuum hose slid nicely over the exposed part of the rigid tube, and I secured that with a hose clamp.
The horn was mounted where the stock horn had been. Turns out that no cutting of the fairing was necessary.
Took this pic after the whole job was done, but it gives you the idea. The horn is circled in orange. In order to mount the horn, it helped to remove both of the bolts holding the radiator fluid reservoir in place. This reservoir sort tipped over a bit and stayed there. After verifying the horn was not going to interfere with the fairings or touch the radiator, I tightened everything up and checked fork clearance, wheel full left and full right. Note that some air flow to the radiator will be disturbed by the placement of the horn. I do not believe this will be a problem.
Next it was time for a rough set-up of the hoses and wires. I eyeballed the lengths, which is not the most scientific method. It’s also the reason I had to go back and do a little snippy-snippy after everything was finally mounted!
Relay is in red, approximate horn location is in orange, compressor is in purple, and ground point is in green. (BTW, the ground point is also the compressor mounting point. If this will likely cause me problems in the future, someone please PM me.) The yellow arrows indicate the vacuum hose running from the compressor nipple to the horn.
I tested this thing. Holy crap, it’s loud. Shouldn’t have done the test in an enclosed garage. On the bright side, I can no longer hear my wife clapping 4/4 time and singing, “Whoop, whoop!”
I could not find a good place to mount the relay. Tried using two-sided tape in a couple of places, but the stuff did not stick. I even followed the directions about cleaning the area with alcohol and stuff.
So, I just put the thing here. There is no room for the relay to slip down onto the right side fairing. I placed the relay here and then fed the wires up through the interferences. Once the wires were connected, it looked to me like it wasn’t going anywhere. I’m a little concerned about moisture, but there doesn’t seem to be anywhere for water to accumulate, so I think it’s okay.
For cleanup, I trimmed down some of the wires and took a hunk of the vacuum hose away. The big concern here was keeping the aforementioned items away from the exhaust header and, to a lesser extent, the radiator. Routing everything that remained was an adventure. I think I’ll go back in with some clips and things to attach all the wires and the hose to other wires and hoses. Make it look neater and keep everything in place better.
And now, with the right side fairing back on:
Ta-da!
PS - My 11-year old daughter probably could have done a better job with the picture painting, eh?
Preparations included obtaining a few bowls from the kitchen to contain fasteners removed during the process. Incidentally, the only fastener I did not put into one of these bowls was lost for a short time. I was lucky to find it again. I also grabbed a large, thin blanket from our “rag” pile and an extra towel.
Also, due to space constraints, it was necessary to split the compressor/horn unit. (Sorry, these were the pics I did not think of until it was too late!) They come as one piece, with the semicircular brackets on the horn wrapped around the compressor and the compressor discharge nipple (with little yellow o-ring) stuck into the air horn, I dunno, call it a receiving hole. The process of separating them involves breaking the little lock tab that holds the nipple in the hole. This is located between the compressor and the horn. Next, I gently pried apart the semicircular brackets about 0.25” and simultaneously pushed up on the bottom of the compressor with my thumbs. I kept the little o-ring, but ended up not using it. Because I lost it.
First thing I did to the motorcycle was remove the right side fairing, including dash panels C and D and the inner and lower-middle fairing. Didn’t really need any directions for this, it was fairly intuitive. Someone on this forum posted a phrase, “Try before you pry.” That was pretty much all the direction I used.
After removing the right side stock horn (the left side stock horn remained hooked up and it still works), I tried to mount the compressor on the bracket that the stock horn had been on. This was not the best location for a couple of reasons. The biggest concern I had about this was the amount of free play or wiggle the heavy compressor had when I gently pushed or pulled on it. Imagine the compressor moving back and forth a bunch while you are riding, and eventually causing the bracket or fasteners to fatigue. Also the bolt holding the compressor in might have been able to worry away at the radiator end cap. Not to mention the amount of cutting that would have been necessary on the inner fairing.
As it turns out, this was a nice little location for my latest toy:
There was an empty bolt hole on what I believe is the crank case below the engine. The compressor is outlined in purple. There is a yellow arrow pointing at the air compressor discharge nipple. Note that the nut is facing out, and the bolt head is on the compressor side. There is a notch on the comnpressor that slides over the bolt head for mounting. This makes tightening things a little more convenient than if the bolt were faced the other way around.
Next was the horn preparation. I did not do this part until now because of my initial uncertainty about where to place the horn. More on that later.
The Dremel tool was very handy for removing the bracket closest to the horn outlet. Note the hole in the remaining bracket. I put that there for mounting on the stock horn bracket. Turns out this hole was only a pilot hole, as I was off a few sizes. I do not know what size bolt I settled on, I just rummaged around in the toolbox ‘til I found something that worked. The really interesting part is getting the 3/16” vacuum hose attached to the darn receiver hole on the horn. I snipped a 1.5” piece of rigid 3/16” OD tubing and taped it up with electrical tape to get an interference fit with the inside of the horn air receiver hole. (Nod to Wild72 – thanks!) I then put some plumber’s glue on the outside of the tape and slipped the taped rigid tubing inside the horn air receiver hole. The plumber’s glue I used had to set overnight. The vacuum hose slid nicely over the exposed part of the rigid tube, and I secured that with a hose clamp.
The horn was mounted where the stock horn had been. Turns out that no cutting of the fairing was necessary.
Took this pic after the whole job was done, but it gives you the idea. The horn is circled in orange. In order to mount the horn, it helped to remove both of the bolts holding the radiator fluid reservoir in place. This reservoir sort tipped over a bit and stayed there. After verifying the horn was not going to interfere with the fairings or touch the radiator, I tightened everything up and checked fork clearance, wheel full left and full right. Note that some air flow to the radiator will be disturbed by the placement of the horn. I do not believe this will be a problem.
Next it was time for a rough set-up of the hoses and wires. I eyeballed the lengths, which is not the most scientific method. It’s also the reason I had to go back and do a little snippy-snippy after everything was finally mounted!
Relay is in red, approximate horn location is in orange, compressor is in purple, and ground point is in green. (BTW, the ground point is also the compressor mounting point. If this will likely cause me problems in the future, someone please PM me.) The yellow arrows indicate the vacuum hose running from the compressor nipple to the horn.
I tested this thing. Holy crap, it’s loud. Shouldn’t have done the test in an enclosed garage. On the bright side, I can no longer hear my wife clapping 4/4 time and singing, “Whoop, whoop!”
I could not find a good place to mount the relay. Tried using two-sided tape in a couple of places, but the stuff did not stick. I even followed the directions about cleaning the area with alcohol and stuff.
So, I just put the thing here. There is no room for the relay to slip down onto the right side fairing. I placed the relay here and then fed the wires up through the interferences. Once the wires were connected, it looked to me like it wasn’t going anywhere. I’m a little concerned about moisture, but there doesn’t seem to be anywhere for water to accumulate, so I think it’s okay.
For cleanup, I trimmed down some of the wires and took a hunk of the vacuum hose away. The big concern here was keeping the aforementioned items away from the exhaust header and, to a lesser extent, the radiator. Routing everything that remained was an adventure. I think I’ll go back in with some clips and things to attach all the wires and the hose to other wires and hoses. Make it look neater and keep everything in place better.
And now, with the right side fairing back on:
Ta-da!
PS - My 11-year old daughter probably could have done a better job with the picture painting, eh?
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