Multistrada 1200 Stebel Magnum Horn Installation

Replace your standard Ducati MTS1200 horn with
a Stebel Magnum horn… …and be heard!

I don’t need to tell you how pathetic the standard Multistrada 1200 horn is, in fact in fairness to Ducati, how poor all standard OE motorcycle horns are!
After a lot of people recommend the Stebel Magnum I fitted one to my R1200GS and have just done the same for the MTS1200. It’s not very expensive (around £12) and it’s LOUD! 🙂

Update 20Jan2011 – Alternative horn location (below)

As per the GS I thought it would just be a case of disconnecting the power cable from the standard horn, undo the single horn retaining nut and that’s the old one gone.
NOT QUITE THAT SIMPLE!

NB: Larger versions of photos can be seen here

Original Multistrada 1200 horn location…

Having seen photos of a Stebel Magnum installed in place of the original horn posted by another MTS1200 owner (Bengaz – Ducatisti.co.uk / Ducati.MS) I wasn’t keen on ‘cramming’ the Stebel into the limited space (plus the OE horn mounting bracket would have to be bent;-) and although Bengaz says the ‘camera angle’ didn’t do the placement justice, didn’t like the look of the Stebel mounted there…

Problem number one – where to mount the Stebel then?!
Not a lot of options, if any, other than off the lower radiator mount on the right of the bike…….and luckily it doesn’t look out of place there (imo)…

Bolted to the ‘alloy’ radiator mount bracket, that conveniently has a suitable hole to bolt through, with a short stainless steel button head Allen bolt (you’ll also need a couple of 15mm washers).

Before fitting the new horn I removed the silver cap from the back and coated the metal horn casing with ACF50 so that it’ll not corrode. I also coat all electrical connectors with Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline 🙂 to keep water out.

Problem number two – I made up an extension power lead, spade connectors one end to connect to the stock wiring horn connectors and female connectors on the other end to attach to the spade connectors on the Stebel.
TIP: solder all wire connections wherever possible and use heat-shrink insulation to protect wiring.

Threaded through, connected up and first test……….nothing more than a ‘damp fart’ of a noise from the Stebel! 🙁
Tested the new horn with a direct feed from the battery…fine
Tested all wiring…fine
Test with OE horn…fine
Conclusion, the horn on the Multistrada1200 is CANbus controlled with a limited voltage and/or current that’s insufficient to power the Stebel. I didn’t bother proving this by testing with an electrical meter but a quick lashup with a Relay, switched via the stock horn power supply and drawing power direct from the bike’s battery to feed the horn and ALL’S WELL!

I mounted the Relay on the frame of the bike just behind the original horn location so that I could attach the original horn connectors direct to it without extending the original horn supply wires, it’s out of sight and offered some protection once the trim panel is back in place. I doubt that I’ll have any connection issues (water ingress) but I can always extend the wiring at a later date to mount the relay somewhere under the riders seat [update Jan2011 – a winter project will be the re-wiring as I have had some issues!]

For the time being the Relay is connected direct to the battery via a fused lead but another job on the round-to-it list is to install the Touratech TPS15 ‘CANbus Helper’ (Auxiliary Power Fuse Panel) somewhere near the battery and connect to that.
Update – I will in fact be using one of these great connector / fuse panels which has better features than the TPS15 – FuzeBlock

I’ve removed the original horn mounting bracket all together.

The Stebel magnum is nice and loud. The blurb:
This compact horn is 136dB compared to the originals 110dB and since decibels are a measurement which doubles for every 3 extra decibels , the Magnum IS MUCH LOUDER THAN THE PUNY ORIGINAL HORN !!!

The data:

Note the orientation of the Stebel horn – I placed it like this so that water isn’t driven into it when riding in the rain.

Get one! 🙂

Update 20Jan2011 – Alternative horn installation / location (by StevePL)

Couple of pics that might interest you – took them today while fitting my Stebel Magnum. As it happens, it is possible to fit it the horn in the same place on the Multistrada 1200 as the OE horn – and I didn’t have to bend any brackets.

I removed the bolt that held the OE horn bracket to the frame (fiddly to do as
it is the “wrong” side of the bracket as you work). I used the Stebel horn mount brackets, and drilled out the hole at one end to accept the OE bolt size.

Then I refitted the lot to the original mounting bracket BUT I put the bolt through from the back so the bracket is fixed to the reverse of the frame mount – which means that the welded “nut” gives the extra clearance to put the Stebel in there without fowling anything else or bending the bracket.

I put the relay under the seat, using a perfectly sized space under the tank.
[AndyW – something I will be doing asap as I have had issues with the relay mounted as shown earlier]

Cheers
Steve