[ST] What I've been up to lately

[Kevin.Dicks@xxxxxxx]

While it's not technically ST related, it is relevant and I do intend to
perform the following to my ST at some point.
 
Electrical Bits and Pieces, Part 1
 
It all started when I wanted to upgrade the wimpy horn on my '99 S3.  I
figured I would go for the loudest one I could find and based on my
research and an excellent post on the TriumphRat forum (
http://tinyurl.com/mds3z ) I went with the Stebel Nautilus.  I forget
where I got mine from (eBay ?) but it was about $40 or so as I recall.
You can get them here :  http://tinyurl.com/almy9   
 
Now,  as I waited for the horn to arrive I got to thinking about how I
would actually mount the horn and also,  power the horn.  I figured I
would just mount it in the same place as the stock horn.  I also took at
look at the afore mentioned post but as mine is a '99, the alternator is
in the way so I couldn't utilize the excellent mount mentioned in the post
(not before I bought some steel plate to make the mount however :).  
 
At this point I figured I also liked the idea of a separate power
connector strip as I already had my Autocom and Valentine 1 hooked up to
the bike and so adding the horn power connection would start to get messy.
Based on yet more research (thank you Al Gore for so thoughtfully
providing the internet...) I found that some people had added a Blue Sea
connector block...like this one:
 
 http://tinyurl.com/ntkue 
 
 http://tinyurl.com/lfdx3 
 
Again, I forget how much I paid but it was $25 or so off eBay.  There are
a couple model but I got the 5025  ( http://tinyurl.com/ozh2n - there is a
link on this page to the dimensions of the block) which also has a
negative bus in addition to the positive bus - I just liked the idea of
having everything connected to the some block.    There is another - the
5028 - that does not have a negative bus and is consequently smaller
http://tinyurl.com/p3ot3 .  
 
Eventually both the horn and connector block arrived and I was ready to
begin.  Unfortunately at this point winter intervened and I had to put my
poor S3 in the porch and that pretty much meant an end to working on it.
 
Couple weeks ago I pulled the bike out of the porch and wheeled it into my
garage and I began to add both the horn and the connector block.
 
I first of all removed the V1 and Autocom connections and proceeded to
added the connector block.  I wasn't sure where to put it (other then
under the seat) and I settled in the end in placing it where the tool kit
is normally stowed, so I could use the retaining strap that is normally
used to stop the tool roll from moving around.  I toyed with the idea of
attaching it to the top of the tail tidy I have fitted but as the tail
tidy is curved, nothing seemed to look or work too well so I figured I
wouldn't fasten it in and at that point I needed some way of securing it -
hence the tool strap.  
 
I used 12 gauge (I think it was) wire to connect the Blue Sea box to the
battery - with an inline fuse and a relay (triggered from the tail lights
- which I was using incidentally to power my V1 and Autocom so the wires
were already there) so that the Blue Sea box is not powered when the
ignition is turned off.  I really liked the idea of the relay to ensure
that I didn't leave anything on by mistake and run the battery down.  I
got the relay from Radio Shack and it's a simple auto relay - cost me
about $4 or so I think but you can get them from most auto parts type
shops .  The relay is hidden in the picture but its located under the
cross member by the side of the coolant tank.
 
 http://tinyurl.com/lh76y 
 
 http://tinyurl.com/pv3j6 
 
In the top corner of the image you can see my Autocom lead (I have a
similar set up on my ST to allow me to transfer the Autocom between bikes)
and my V1 power 'block'
 
Wiring the Blue Sea box was pretty easy and took me about 2 hours - I am a
bit anal (well OK a lot...) so I wanted to make sure it was neat and tidy
(cable ties are your friend...)
 
Another picture of the Blue Sea box but with my Autocom unit 'installed'
 
 http://tinyurl.com/okb8l 
 
It's tight under there but there's just enough room - I have a tail hump
which I use instead of the passenger seat.
 
So I had the Blue Sea box installed...now for the horn.
 
The biggest problem (now I had some means to power the horn up) I had now
was where to put the horn.  I really didn't want to put it in the same
place as the stock horn as it would really stick out - it's not a small
horn.  I played around a lot and eventually I took the front sprocket
cover off.  If you have ever taken that cover off you will see there is a
small lip - sorry forgot to take a piccie of that :( which got me thinking
that maybe I could mount the horn on the cover.  It was certainly out of
the way and it didn't seem to stick out too much.  My only concern was
that it would somehow interfere with the chain - not something, given the
location, that would be a good thing.  However, because of the lip, any
bolt used to connect the horn would still not be proud of the lip so I
figured what the hell I would at least give it a go.  I drilled the hole
and mounted the horn - using as big a washer on the inside of the cover as
I could fit.  I also used a lock washer but I was thinking afterwards that
maybe I should have used Loctite also - I may do that if I find it starts
to get loose.
 
 http://tinyurl.com/rjqwc 
 
At this point I have only ridden to work and back, and I checked the chain
carefully when I both got to work and once I had returned home (and
listened intently while riding) and the bolt holding the horn in place
doesn't interfere with the chain at all.  Any comments on this would be
most welcome as I am still not 100% its the best place to mount the horn.
It does move a little but still not enough, it seems, to 'push' the bolt
into the chain.
 
Once I had somewhere to mount the horn I then had to get power to the
horn.  The horn came with a relay (very similar to the horn I mentioned
earlier when installing the Blue Sea box) and I ran 2 wires from the
original horn connection to trigger the horn and ran power from the Blue
Sea box.  This allowed me to very easily use the existing horn button,
with no further modification,  to power the horn.  
 
I connected it all up and turned on the ignition and hit the horn.
Suffice to say it's LOUD and will surely get someone's attention.
 
Cheers,
 
Kevin
 
 
 
 
 
 

  _____  

YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS 


	
*	 Visit your group "NTSR <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NTSR> " on
the web.
  

*	 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
 NTSR-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:NTSR-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=Unsubscribe> 
  

*	 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> . 


  _____  


_______________________________________________
Triumph Sprint ST/RS mailing list
Send list posts to ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Change your list options at www.Triumphnet.com