Horn upgrade for a M696

sgollapalle · July 11, 2011, 12:00:55 PM

I have a 2011 696.. After the stock horn not doing much in drawing attention of cagers... I have decided to do this..

I got the Stebel Nautilus Compact Motorcycle Air Horn.. The thing is small, but not small enough to fit on the Monster..
And because it needs to be vertical, I could not find any mounting locations.. Ended up returning it and started looking again..

Anyone out there installed a louder horn than the stock?
Where did you purchase?
Where on the bike did you install?

Thanks for the advise/help

Howie · July 11, 2011, 02:10:19 PM

Fiamm and Hella both make louder than stock horns that are practically plug and play.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-horns/

ungeheuer · July 11, 2011, 05:13:21 PM

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=21649.0

Kev M · July 11, 2011, 07:30:52 PM

I'm thinking about a low tone Fiaam, and Unge's thread gives me hope that it will fit without modification. I hope I don't need to run a relay, but I guess it's not too bad if I have to...

uglyducky · July 11, 2011, 09:24:09 PM

i put this on recently. very happy. super slim and loud as hell
http://www.monsterparts.com/p/200251/PIAA+Slim+Line+Sports+Horn.html

ungeheuer · July 11, 2011, 09:45:14 PM

Quote from: uglyducky on July 11, 2011, 09:24:09 PM
i put this on recently. very happy. super slim and loud as hell
http://www.monsterparts.com/p/200251/PIAA+Slim+Line+Sports+Horn.html

does it need a relay?

uglyducky · July 11, 2011, 09:58:03 PM

Quote from: ungeheuer on July 11, 2011, 09:45:14 PM
does it need a relay?

i don't think so. speeddog put it on. iirc it draws about the same juice as stock. but i'm wrong about most everything so maybe he'll chime in.

sgollapalle · July 12, 2011, 06:17:46 AM

Quote from: ungeheuer on July 11, 2011, 05:13:21 PM
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=21649.0

Hey ungeheuer, Thanks for the link. That's a pretty cool install and nice write up. Is that a 2011 696?
When I checked in that space, I had a metal fin like thing blocking on the left side... Do you have that too? Did you make the bracket yourself or buy it?

sgollapalle · July 12, 2011, 06:21:21 AM

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=49877.0

That was the other route I was thinking.. And the guy at the dealer said, that is pretty much the only option I have.. This thread is giving me some hope before I turn mine into a ......

Frustration · July 12, 2011, 08:02:09 AM

There is no "plug and play" horn that is much louder than stock.

None.

Anything that will make you (and more importantly, people in a car a ways in front of you where it matters) take note will require a relay.

The Piaa is louder than stock... But from a car it's 20% (and that's being generous) depending on where you mount it and how you power it.

I've also tried 2 different plug and play Fiamm... Just not much louder, different tone was all.

I like the stebel, but it's not louder than the twin Hellas and theyve had inconsistent durability. Webbikeworld did a test and their tester failed and my stebil failed on my hyper... I also don't like The idea of blocking even more wind from a bike with no cooler... But thats not as important for some folks as it is here in Arizona...

Days end, I did the loudest durable horns I could find mounted in the loudest place possible. There are pretenders but if you want BIG sound. Car shocking sound...

If you find this location too eye shocking, have someone make you a couple of frame mounts and stick em on the green spot...

There's room, and they will still be WAY loud.

Kev M · July 12, 2011, 08:45:48 AM

Quote from: Frustration on July 12, 2011, 08:02:09 AM
There is no "plug and play" horn that is much louder than stock.

None.

Anything that will make you (and more importantly, people in a car a ways in front of you where it matters) take note will require a relay.

<snip>

I've also tried 2 different plug and play Fiamm... Just not much louder, different tone was all.

I guess we have different definition of louder or much louder.

I've got a single low-tone Fiamm on 3 of our 4 bikes right now (the Guzzis and the Harley) and I think they are fine. No they are not ear splitting, but I've not needed ear splitting in 2 decades of riding so I'm not gonna lose sleep over it.

Anyway, I guess I need to break out the wiring diagram and decide if I need to go through the trouble of a dedicated relay.

I did on my Guzzi Breva because the power feed for the horn was straight through the switch (and it was expensive switch gear). I didn't on the Harley cause parts are cheap so I didn't even bother to look at the diagram and I didn't on the Guzzi Jackal cause Guzzi was nice enough to power the damn thing through a relay stock.

Guess I'll report back when I finally try a Fiamm on the 696.

Obviously YMMV

sgollapalle · July 12, 2011, 09:08:49 AM

Quote from: Frustration on July 12, 2011, 08:02:09 AM
There is no "plug and play" horn that is much louder than stock.
None.
Anything that will make you (and more importantly, people in a car a ways in front of you where it matters) take note will require a relay.

The Piaa is louder than stock... But from a car it's 20% (and that's being generous) depending on where you mount it and how you power it.
I've also tried 2 different plug and play Fiamm... Just not much louder, different tone was all.

I like the stebel, but it's not louder than the twin Hellas and theyve had inconsistent durability. Webbikeworld did a test and their tester failed and my stebil failed on my hyper... I also don't like The idea of blocking even more wind from a bike with no cooler... But thats not as important for some folks as it is here in Arizona...
Days end, I did the loudest durable horns I could find mounted in the loudest place possible. There are pretenders but if you want BIG sound. Car shocking sound...

If you find this location too eye shocking, have someone make you a couple of frame mounts and stick em on the green spot...

There's room, and they will still be WAY loud.

My plan was to mount them under the headlamp, so its not staring at you..

Where did you get the mounting brackets??

Frustration · July 12, 2011, 09:30:22 AM

You cant fit these horns under the headlight. You'll either block the light or not let the fork travel enough...

That was my first placement choice and I was OK with custom fabd stuff to do it, but it wont work.

The fork clamps are available from a few places, but to install these and get the full sound you need to make sure you use the stock straps that come mounted to the horn. I had these custom fabricated, but you may be able to fashion another L piece like them...

Take note that the tripple layer piece that comes off the horn is mounted just off the L bracket with a washer so it can vibrate. The whole mechanism is made to vibrate and cast sound and pulling off the original mount will eliminate volume and change the tone.

sgollapalle · July 12, 2011, 09:50:55 AM

Thanks for the pic.. I'll look into fork clamp options..

sgollapalle · July 12, 2011, 01:37:00 PM

Just got these clamps. They hopefully fit right..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AI6YU6

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Horn upgrade for a M696