[How To] Denali Sound Bomb Install

[Rmcapozzi]

At this year's IMS here in Washington DC, we saw Twisted Throttle's Denali Sound Bomb. The size was pretty big but I took a gamble on it fitting on the NT. My wife has been begging for a louder horn and this thing is certainly loud!

I found a place where it just fits inside the right mid-cowling. You can take a look at my installation pictures on my Photobucket site. Below is a link:
http://s34.photobucket.com/user/capozzir/library/2010 Honda NT700VA/Denali Sound Bomb
I hope some find the pictures helpful in crafting their own horn upgrade.

Now when my wife pushes the OEM horn button, she can really be heard with both the OEM and Denali Sound Bomb reporting.

 

[Gabe]

Wow! Just watched the video and I think my computer speakers nearly blew their guts out! This thing sounds like it would be deafening... perhaps just what is needed to get cagers off their cell phones or have them look twice. How well does it perform at speed? Also sounds like takes a lot of juice... does it wire directly to the battery? At 20 Amps I could wire the thing up to a standard home circuit breaker... sheesh! Any blown fuses or electrical system stress? What wiring kit and mount did you use? I'm thinking of getting one.

 

[Rmcapozzi]

Wow! Just watched the video and I think my computer speakers nearly blew their guts out! This thing sounds like it would be deafening... perhaps just what is needed to get cagers off their cell phones or have them look twice. How well does it perform at speed? Also sounds like takes a lot of juice... does it wire directly to the battery? At 20 Amps I could wire the thing up to a standard home circuit breaker... sheesh! Any blown fuses or electrical system stress? What wiring kit and mount did you use? I'm thinking of getting one.

it performs quite well and is very loud. When following my wife in the car, I could hear the horn very loudly at 55mph following at a 2 second distance. It draws 20amps so it is quite "thirsty". Due to the large draw, I ran the power directly from the battery. 20amps was a bit much to put on the PC-8 fuse panel given the other loads already wired off it (full heated gear being the biggie).

No problems blowing fuses. She operated the horn a few times with all her heated gear on (jacket, pants, socks, gloves, and grips) with no issue. The draw is relatively quick so as long as you run proper sized wire and fuse it correctly, you should not have any charging issues.

As you can see from my install pictures, I use an in-line 20amp fuse directly off the battery. That is run into the supplied 30amp relay and then on to the Denali horn. I used 12g wire and built my own custom harness using spade and ring terminals along with plent of sheathing to protect the wires and keep the install clean. Check out my install pictures for more info.

the trickiest part was finding a location to fit the horn and devising a way to mount it. That turned out to be pretty straight forward.

 

[JQL]

I have the Stebel Nautilus which is similar to the Denali for sound. It has been on my bike for about 4 years now (direct connection to the battery as well via a relay) and I have some observations which you may like to consider.

• It doesn't like cold or wet weather
• The power draw is very big so the battery needs to be in good condition
• It can take about 1/3 of a second to "power up"

I have mine mounted next to the vent in front of the pocket in the front left fairing. This is not a good position if you ride in the cold or the wet. The horn sounds more like a strangled cat than a horn in these conditions. In the warm and dry it's brilliant.

If the battery is starting to get a bit old (>3 years) and you're using heated grips, high beam etc. the horn, sometimes, doesn't power up.

It does take a noticeable time to power up (circa 1/3 second) which can also be about the length of time it takes you to think "bugger, it's not working!", take your thumb off the button and concentrate on avoidance manoeuvres.

So I've kept the original horn connected (as well as using it for the "trigger") and I'm about to relocate the Stebel to behind the tip-over wing. At the same time I'm going to add a set of electric dual tone horns behind the right tip-over wing (if a 20 amp fuse is man enough - if not I won't).

The way I have mine set up is if the Stebel fails or the 20 amp fuse blows the bike's original horn will still operate.

 

[Rmcapozzi]

Thanks for the note. I picked the right side versus the left side. Other than the small vent cut out, the area is well protected though water can certainly get into that area via the vent. With the horn on the right side of the bike, the trumpets are behind the compressor which provides additional protection against water getting into the horns (which can cause problems with the sound). Wet shouldn't be a problem (if the connections are well protected) as long as water isn't going into the trumpets. Care needs to be taken to direct the intakes of the horns so water can not easily enter and pool in them.

For our test, the temps were below freezing and the horn worked perfectly and that was with all my wife's heated gear operating. Yes, typically, air horns take just a smidgen more time to report than electric horns. The delay is due to the extra time the compressor needs to spin up and push the air through the trumpets. Something electric horns don't require. The longer the distance from compressor to horn, the longer the delay. The compact design of these units (Denali, Stebel, etc) provides for a pretty quick response as air horns go. The result is when operating both the OEM horn and the Denali from the same switch (as I have it setup on my wife's bike) the OEM horn will sound just a split second before the Denali. You can just hear the OEM horn's anemic report before the Denali blasts over top it. I do think it is a good idea to keep the OEM horn as a backup. Besides, it does add a bit more noise so why not?

I'll certainly provide updates as I get more mileage on the horns and how it operates in the wet. Thanks again for the note.

I have the Stebel Nautilus which is similar to the Denali for sound. It has been on my bike for about 4 years now (direct connection to the battery as well via a relay) and I have some observations which you may like to consider.

• It doesn't like cold or wet weather
• The power draw is very big so the battery needs to be in good condition
• It can take about 1/3 of a second to "power up"

I have mine mounted next to the vent in front of the pocket in the front left fairing. This is not a good position if you ride in the cold or the wet. The horn sounds more like a strangled cat than a horn in these conditions. In the warm and dry it's brilliant.

If the battery is starting to get a bit old (>3 years) and you're using heated grips, high beam etc. the horn, sometimes, doesn't power up.

It does take a noticeable time to power up (circa 1/3 second) which can also be about the length of time it takes you to think "bugger, it's not working!", take your thumb off the button and concentrate on avoidance manoeuvres.

So I've kept the original horn connected (as well as using it for the "trigger") and I'm about to relocate the Stebel to behind the tip-over wing. At the same time I'm going to add a set of electric dual tone horns behind the right tip-over wing (if a 20 amp fuse is man enough - if not I won't).

The way I have mine set up is if the Stebel fails or the 20 amp fuse blows the bike's original horn will still operate.

 

[JQL]

I should have been more specific about the wet.

It isn't water ingress into the trumpet which is the problem on mine as it doesn't get in. More the level of humidity in the air. A foggy day can upset the sound just as much as a rainy day. It seems it doesn't like moist air.

I am a great believer in the Denali/Stebel horns and will thoroughly recommend them with the proviso that they are correctly installed. It certainly makes cagers sit up and take notice!

I'm sure your wife will get years of good service out of it.

 

[Rmcapozzi]

Ah. High humidity. That is an interesting thought. I will certainly pay attention and see if we notice performance issues on really misty air days. Thanks for the info!

I should have been more specific about the wet.

It isn't water ingress into the trumpet which is the problem on mine as it doesn't get in. More the level of humidity in the air. A foggy day can upset the sound just as much as a rainy day. It seems it doesn't like moist air.

I am a great believer in the Denali/Stebel horns and will thoroughly recommend them with the proviso that they are correctly installed. It certainly makes cagers sit up and take notice!

I'm sure your wife will get years of good service out of it.