Ducati Monster Forum

Stebel Nautilus !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It saved me again tonight [thumbsup]
On my way home from work tonight , the usual scenario .
I am avoiding overtaking all the cars (because of the radar black spot $$$$$$)
slow car in the fast lane , STOOGE behind in the blacked out windows thumping stereo 4x4 changes lanes without looking
into my lane the middle one inches away until he hears BLAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Futher muckers I wish they would look.
Ended well with me here with a frothy cold Coopers  [drink] having a rant.

Oh I gave the Missus a fang on the 695 today I had to pry it loose from her hands. [laugh]

Pry what loose from her hands Dez.....??     ;D ;D ;D
Oh.......i see now......you meant your (her?) bike.
My apologies...(giggle)

i have a pair of similar horns that i bought in thailand a few years back which work just the treat for people changing lanes without looking

last week in the shed i found them again  [thumbsup]

+1 on the Nautilus...  I love that look of abruptly awoken terror they get in their eyes just as their sleep is rudely interrupted.  And its especially rewarding when you're having an "I know you're gonna cut in front of me even before you know you're gonna cut in front of me" moment....  Thumb poised over the horn trigger button... eyes narrowed.... and thinking aloud "Go ahead.  Make My Day..."   [laugh] [laugh]

How loud is the Nautilus compared to a standard horn (keep it clean people)

is very loud for such a small peice of equipment.. i agree, is the best $50 you can spend on your bike..

139 db claimed

 sounds like a truck

Ok so where do we get this horn  [evil]

You could try Ebay
 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Stebel-Nautilus-Compact-Motor-Bike-Air-Horn-Black-139dB-/400161371769?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d2b79f679 (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Stebel-Nautilus-Compact-Motor-Bike-Air-Horn-Black-139dB-/400161371769?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d2b79f679)

i believe it is the Number 1 Modification to any bike , a big mofo horn

back when younger and stupid i rode a cb250 from PI supers up the hume to sydney , just heading out of melb and someone tried to enter the freeway into my lane , a blow of the horn which i only had 1 of the twinss on and the lady went back into her lane and almost off into the grass  [laugh]

Coming from a bike it's Mack Truck loud.

You literally scare the crap out of drivers, cause they haven't seen you to begin with or they've seen you and couldn't give a #$%^
Mine is the most valuable thing on my bike.

i read this thread and i dig when you all are coming from but personally i have not used my bike horn once .. i kid you not
don't see a sense as things happen so quickly on a bike; i rather take an evasive action and get on with my life. like in the quote above; what is the point? so you anticipate a hazardous situation, you avoid it it and keep on riding. blowing the loud horn while squinting does nothing
that's why i don't have a road rage situations because if i piss them off (which on the odd occasion may happen  ;) ) i'm gone before they know it and if they screw up i avoid and let it fly happy to be alive and keep on riding
live and let live - no one is perfect

+1 Rob

Saw your scooter at the servo the other day on Mcevoy st

Very noble  [thumbsup].

I guess we need a "tongue-in-cheek" smiley  ;). 

Mostly I agree with you.  Reading the road.... reading inattentive idiot road users actions is whats allowed me to ride motorcycles and live to be as old as I am  :).  So yeah... of course, anticipate, take that evasive action and ride on.  Sure.  But loud horn honking? Whats the point?  It alerts the sleep-drivers to your existence.  It causes them to check the environment on the outside of their tin can.  Waking em up can buy you a couple more seconds to do what you have to do to avoid a lack of consideration and/or attention on their part.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with the dangerous stupidity of road rage.  Raising their awareness is not IMO akin to aggression.  Live and let live.  You are so right.  Its just that some need a little help to let me keep living... and so when their driving "imperfections" - texting-at-the-wheel, turning around to tell Little Johnny to stop throwing popcorn, etc, etc, etc - cause them to threaten my existence I see nothing wrong with sounding the BIG make the beast with two backsING ALARM  :).  So that they too can let live and live ;)

basically everything you say is correct and has its merits

however, if a car/bus/truck etc is threatening your existence purposefully ie seeing you and sending you a massage "screw you, i'm bigger, i will continue doing what i'm doing and what you wanna do about it" ... than horn is useless. you loose
on the other hand if you want to wake someone up as the driver does something without paying attention than horn is not much help either as the first reaction of such a driver is ALWAYS look what/where/why as the said driver does not realize that you exist and wants to find out what the fuss is all about. so the very maneuver that you consider threatening is still going to continue for this few seconds more before the driver will take any sort of action - if any. you loose again
we know how far you can travel in a few seconds even @ 60km/h so rather than honking imo it is much better to concentrate on avoiding potential danger

i often ride with a mate on a Rocket III - hard to overlook. he honks ever so often and i'm yet to see anyone reacting to it. no one gives a flying make the beast with two backs. if anything, he gets an attitude from cock heads (dangerous) and the ladies going bowling or soccer mums look at him bewildered "why is this poor man honking"  Pointless exercise




PS
but we are all different and having a different opinion enriches us and brightens our horizons so i'm more than happy to read other views than mine

I agree with both views to an extent.

I can't remember ever using my horn in anger either ... I have however used 'throttling-off' to alert inattentive drivers - quite effective. Thankfully it did work because there was neither time to reach for the horn or take evasive action.

thinking bout a stebel truck horn, just cos i like the deeper note :P

http://www.stebel.it/stebel2009/products.asp?IDserie=17&uso=1&tipologia=camion (http://www.stebel.it/stebel2009/products.asp?IDserie=17&uso=1&tipologia=camion)

only issue is the size, it's a bit bigger than the compact nautilus, 140x100x112m vs 125x112x78mm. finding room to fit it on neatly might not be fun...

I use mine infrequently
not in anger or to say fu#k you but as a wake up call
I can get my thumb on it as fast as on the brakes and usually
cover both when coming to an intersection
or a situation that I don't like the look of.

Any tool that keeps you safe is useful .

+1

have had it installed for a few months.....and find I'm so busy avoiding that only after I'm gone do I think.....the horn would have been effective too!

The one time I did use it.....he crapped himself....and then used his little 'south african 3 series' beeper on me, I frickin laughed!!!!

The only times I've ever used the horn on my bike is to test that it works.  Because I use it so infrequently, I never think of it in situations where it might be useful.  Instead I'm busy with clutch/brake/throttle/gears, and avoiding the twit that's suddenly decided to cut me off or whatever.  I only remember I have a horn 50m down the road.

The thing bikes have to their massive advantage is the ability to fit in small spaces and maneuver quickly.

And one more thing: when you scare people which you seem to be prod off, they more often than not react unexpectedly which is another danger in itself

[roll] Proud?  Scare people??  [roll]...  My point - distilled down to its essence is this - if you're gonna sound your vehicle's horn, then it might as well be loud enough to get noticed. 

So.... as the OP said... my Stebel Nautilus is the best $50 I have spent on my bike  [thumbsup].  However, if you subscribe to the notion that defensive horn honking constitutes unnecessary aggression leading to further danger then obviously you'd spend your $50 elsewhere  :).

I reckon that if you dont let a dickhead know he's a dickhead, he'll think its ok...

I think this is the key. Despite their ego, general inattentiveness and, often, diminished mental capacity ... 'most' people will recognise that they are in the wrong if they almost run over a motorcyclist and it is 'pointed out' to them.

Unfortunately it is only likely to have a temporary effect on them ... but that may be all it takes to save you (or someone else).