• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Denali Sound Bomb, HexEZCan, and OEM Horn ??

tmac99

New member
I just purchased a Denali Compact Sound Bomb horn and plan to install it using the Denali supplied bracket built for the >14 RT and run it from a HexEZCan. I have 2 questions that I can't find answers to:

1. Does the Denali bracket require the removal of the OEM horn, or can the OEM horn remain on the bike, and

2. If I have to remove the OEM horn, how do I avoid canbus errors from not having any load on the OEM horn circuit, since the new horn will be powered from an EZCan circuit.

Thanks in advance.
 
IIRC, the original horn stays in place when installing the SoundBomb & EzCan. Removing the OE horn will indeed trigger an error code/fault, but it can be ignored.
 
You can even run both if you want. There may be a slight delay between when the OEM horn and when the SoundBomb goes off. That's because the SoundBomb compressor has to spin up before it sounds; the OEM goes off right away.
 
I just installed the EZCan on my non wonderwheel GSA. I would look at the Denali version of the EZCan before going for the EZCan to make sure it doesn't provide something the EZcan might not. Sorry for being vague but for instance, my version only provides three configurations vs four on the LC models. The accessory channel on mine is only good for 4 amps without adding an old school relay. I don't think there is a Denali version for my bike but there is for the LC bikes.
 
I just purchased a Denali Compact Sound Bomb horn and plan to install it using the Denali supplied bracket built for the >14 RT and run it from a HexEZCan. I have 2 questions that I can't find answers to:

1. Does the Denali bracket require the removal of the OEM horn, or can the OEM horn remain on the bike, and

2. If I have to remove the OEM horn, how do I avoid canbus errors from not having any load on the OEM horn circuit, since the new horn will be powered from an EZCan circuit.

Thanks in advance.

I installed a Stebel Nautilus horn on my 14RT because the stock horn is basically worthless , the stock horn was removed and I have never had a problem with canbus errors.
 
I just installed the EZCan on my non wonderwheel GSA. I would look at the Denali version of the EZCan before going for the EZCan to make sure it doesn't provide something the EZcan might not. Sorry for being vague but for instance, my version only provides three configurations vs four on the LC models. The accessory channel on mine is only good for 4 amps without adding an old school relay. I don't think there is a Denali version for my bike but there is for the LC bikes.
From what I know, the Denali CANsmart is simply a re-branded Hex ezCAN. It was/is Hex's only re-brand but my recollection of my conversation with Hex is that it contained no "additional" features.

However, earlier versions of the ezCAN have fewer features than the newest versions so that (different versions) can be a source of differences in functionality.
 
Denali's Hex EZCan is slightly different

From what I know, the Denali CANsmart is simply a re-branded Hex ezCAN. It was/is Hex's only re-brand but my recollection of my conversation with Hex is that it contained no "additional" features.

However, earlier versions of the ezCAN have fewer features than the newest versions so that (different versions) can be a source of differences in functionality.

Denali's version is not identical to the original Hex product. I looked at both at the Salt Lake show, and some of the posts that I've seen "seem" to note that it might work better with some of Denali's light products. (I've got the regular EZCan version, works fine.)
 
My way with Hex EZ can and air horn

Bike: 2017 R1200GS

As for the air horn, I bought an integrated unit and ended up splitting it in two to essentially end up with a product similar to Denalis' split unit because it was--for me--easier to mount. (Many air horns use the same identical compressor, just a different air horn--pretty much all air horns are very similar) I left my original horn in place. I mounted my new air horn and its separate compressor near the rear fender inside of the luggage box--fits pretty well, and the wires provided with the EzCan were sufficiently long to reach it without splices. As someone noted, there is a slight delay, perhaps 0.2 seconds, between the two. You can notice it, but it is not objectionable. Happy to have the air horn to try to get animals' attention. Of course, you don't need a (typically supplied) separate relay when using the EZCan.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not a response to your question, but perhaps of interest,

My setup (atypical, because I heat a jacket and gloves with it.)

Red Circuit: Air horn operated by normal horn button. (Factory horn, left in place, works simultaneously, too.) (EZCan breaker tripped when set at 10 amps, but seems to work OK when set to 15 amps. I used a $16 horn from Ebay. Annoyingly loud--which is what I wanted, primarily for animals. [see http://katu.com/news/local/bear-stru...marion-county] Due to the different way that I had to use the "orange" circuit (below) the EZCan cannot flash my fog lights when the horn is sounded. <http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-...4923103?epid=12004205651&hash=item46665a94df: g:jrgAAOSwi8VZU07i&vxp=mtr>

Orange Circuit: Dedicated heated garment (jacket+gloves) circuit, breaker set to 10 amps. (2.4 ohm load with heated jacket and heated gloves in parallel--worst case-- or 14v/2.4ohms= ~6 amps.) Also have very small incandescent pilot light in this circuit to give me a visual indication of power (heat) level. [I initially tried an LED pilot, but it flickered annoyingly at low power due to PWM so I switched to an incandescent, which is more even-tempered.] Since I opted to use a nominal 10 amp "lighting circuit" for the heated jacket--and instead used the "white" accessory circuit for my fog lights, it means that I don't have access to the trick flashing of the fog lights normally associated with a typical EZCan installation. My red incandescent pilot light is from an airplane ($40) and has a twistable shutter to dim the lamp, if need be. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/el/presstotestindicators/ms25041.php> The bulb should last forever at the very low heat settings that I anticipate. While this works well, I have recently ordered--but have not yet received--the Wunderlich Mitts with a viewing window because my fingers were still getting cold when riding at 42 degrees on an overcast day.

Yellow (brake) Circuit: Brake light (s), set to 1 amp for auxilliary LED license plate frame lights ($17.) Similar to <http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-M...7450249?hash=item4b16589109:g:CBQAAOSw42JZAvH 2&vxp=mtr>

White (aux) Circuit: Two 10w LED Cree "fog" lights ($12 each) in parallel (1.3 amps measured; breaker set to 2 amps.) These are for enhanced recognition. <http://www.ebay.com/itm/2inch-10W-C...3619374?hash=item283dafbdae:g:1QkAAOSwQjNW9f0 Y&vxp=mtr> I've had to turn these down toward the pavement slightly, as I have no way to dim their intensity and cars were flashing their brights at me.

The EZCan concept is a little inflexible if you want to do something that they hadn't intended, but I am sure they will improve on the device, add more features, etc., over time. On my former F800GT I had wired in a FuzeBlock (brand) relay for my previous F800GT bike, but the EZCan is much more compact and elegant.

I used Positaps (2) and Posi-splices (a lot of them) and they are all working without incident, but I am thinking of switching to knife splices for enhanced vibration resistance, covered with shrink for insulation. <https://www.aircraftspruce.com/search/search.php?s=KNIFE+DISCONNECTS&x=26&y=14>

For those tempted to do something likewise, it is worth noting that Denali is selling a licensed version of the Hex EZCan with a somewhat different feature set. It might be worth investigating that device for your future projects. It does cost, however, about $100 more than the EZCan and each will have to assess for themselves if what it offers is worth the extra money. As for me, I am thoroughly delighted with the standard Ezcan product.

Winter is here and I'm ready, if it would just stop raining.

Photos show my pilot light, mounted to the back of the Nav6 GPS
Attached Images
 
Last edited:
I installed a Stebel Nautilus horn on my 14RT because the stock horn is basically worthless , the stock horn was removed and I have never had a problem with canbus errors.

I too have a Stebel Nautilus air horn and agree stock is worthless but my GS911 shows a fault, everything works great but even after clearing the fault it will reappear. It's not a problem and wouldn't knew I had one if not for the GS911. I do my own service so the bike doesn't get to the dealer but I had a recall and a poor performing battery (replaced under warranty) I wasn't told about the horn fault.

Jay
 
Horn, ezCAN issues

Now wait just a cotton-pickin minute. Who says the stock horn from our infallible German engineers (there is nothing wrong with those final drives) is "useless??"

If you are waiting on your girlfriend in the parking lot of Starbucks and she comes out and looks for you, you can beep the stock buzzer and, if traffic is not too noisy, she will find you.

Or, if you go to the local beauty salon looking for your wife so you can ask her permission for you to go ride, and you pull up in front and she can't hear the BMW bike running, you can hit the stock buzzer and get her attention if she hasn't gone inside the door yet.

These are useful applications of the stock horn.

:)

I run a HEX ezCAN with BOTH the loud air horn and the stock buzzer on my '16 1200GS. Mine works fine. I used a Denali bracket to hang the airhorn and there was no problem with the position of the stock buzzer. You can, however, fabricate your own bracket.

My response is mostly concerning the ezCAN.

First, you don't NEED the ezCAN simply to power your horn. Other options, including a relay triggered by your stock horn wire, would work. Other CAN modules would also work, of course.

Be aware, on the current version of the ezCAN, there is a glitch that may or may not have been fixed yet.

If you wire up a horn, you must put your auxiliary lights on one high amp circuit and the big horn on another high amp circuit. If you program the aux lights to cut out when you apply your turn signals, the aux lights will not come back on unless you manually hit the turn signal cancel button even though the signals may have already been canceled automatically.

Again, if you activate a turn signal, your aux lights will go out as intended so that other drivers can better see your front signals. However, after the turn when your bike automatically cancels the signals, the ezCAN will not turn on the aux lights again until you manually hit the signal cancel button even though the signals are already off. You basically lose the benefit of automatic signal cancellation when running aux lights since you have to always hit the cancel button to get your lights back.

I have worked with the ezCAN folks. They were unaware of this and they are making changes to the modules.

Just ask about this before buying.

Otherwise the ezCAN is a fine and useful product if you want to integrate lights, horns, accessories.

.
 
Last edited:
I too have a Stebel Nautilus air horn and agree stock is worthless but my GS911 shows a fault, everything works great but even after clearing the fault it will reappear. It's not a problem and wouldn't knew I had one if not for the GS911. I do my own service so the bike doesn't get to the dealer but I had a recall and a poor performing battery (replaced under warranty) I wasn't told about the horn fault.

Jay


The non wonderwheel version includes a jumper which is is installed between the horn harness & the stock horn. It also has a lead that goes to the EZcan to tell it the horn button is pressed, I am guessing. Maybe the wonderwheel versions don't need the jumper but the instructions say if you don't use this jumper AND reconnect the original horn, that you will get faults that show up on the GS-911.
 
I just purchased a Denali Compact Sound Bomb horn and plan to install it using the Denali supplied bracket built for the >14 RT and run it from a HexEZCan. I have 2 questions that I can't find answers to:

1. Does the Denali bracket require the removal of the OEM horn, or can the OEM horn remain on the bike, and

2. If I have to remove the OEM horn, how do I avoid canbus errors from not having any load on the OEM horn circuit, since the new horn will be powered from an EZCan circuit.

Thanks in advance.

Our local shop installed my two new horns and what their senior tech advised was to leave the OEM horn in place and use it's trigger lead to fire the new horns which would be powered thru a relay to the battery. He said this way CANbus will not 'sense' a difference in load and no faults will generate. BTW, the faults will not display on the dash, just on their computer used for servicing etc, and I guess a GS-911.
 
Our local shop installed my two new horns and what their senior tech advised was to leave the OEM horn in place and use it's trigger lead to fire the new horns which would be powered thru a relay to the battery. He said this way CANbus will not 'sense' a difference in load and no faults will generate. BTW, the faults will not display on the dash, just on their computer used for servicing etc, and I guess a GS-911.

Precisely what I did when mounting the Stebel Nautilus on my K13GT. Yes, a different bike but it’s still BMW CanBus. Works great!

The only side effect is a couple microsecond delay when triggering the horn, but you have to be really listening to hear it because the OEM horn beeps instantly. I suspect that what I’m hearing is normal spool-up delay for horns like the Stebel or Denali.

Best,
DG
 
Relay not needed (for me)

Our local shop installed my two new horns and what their senior tech advised was to leave the OEM horn in place and use it's trigger lead to fire the new horns which would be powered thru a relay to the battery. He said this way CANbus will not 'sense' a difference in load and no faults will generate. BTW, the faults will not display on the dash, just on their computer used for servicing etc, and I guess a GS-911.

I didn't use a separate relay on my EZCan/Airhorn installation--works fine. I set the EZCan circuit breaker for 15 amps because it would blow the breker when the breaker was set at 10 amps.
 
Now wait just a cotton-pickin minute. Who says the stock horn from our infallible German engineers (there is nothing wrong with those final drives) is "useless??"

If you are waiting on your girlfriend in the parking lot of Starbucks and she comes out and looks for you, you can beep the stock buzzer and, if traffic is not too noisy, she will find you.

Or, if you go to the local beauty salon looking for your wife so you can ask her permission for you to go ride, and you pull up in front and she can't hear the BMW bike running, you can hit the stock buzzer and get her attention if she hasn't gone inside the door yet.

These are useful applications of the stock horn.

:)

I run a HEX ezCAN with BOTH the loud air horn and the stock buzzer on my '16 1200GS. Mine works fine. I used a Denali bracket to hang the airhorn and there was no problem with the position of the stock buzzer. You can, however, fabricate your own bracket.

My response is mostly concerning the ezCAN.

First, you don't NEED the ezCAN simply to power your horn. Other options, including a relay triggered by your stock horn wire, would work. Other CAN modules would also work, of course.

Be aware, on the current version of the ezCAN, there is a glitch that may or may not have been fixed yet.

If you wire up a horn, you must put your auxiliary lights on one high amp circuit and the big horn on another high amp circuit. If you program the aux lights to cut out when you apply your turn signals, the aux lights will not come back on unless you manually hit the turn signal cancel button even though the signals may have already been canceled automatically.

Again, if you activate a turn signal, your aux lights will go out as intended so that other drivers can better see your front signals. However, after the turn when your bike automatically cancels the signals, the ezCAN will not turn on the aux lights again until you manually hit the signal cancel button even though the signals are already off. You basically lose the benefit of automatic signal cancellation when running aux lights since you have to always hit the cancel button to get your lights back.

I have worked with the ezCAN folks. They were unaware of this and they are making changes to the modules.

Just ask about this before buying.

Otherwise the ezCAN is a fine and useful product if you want to integrate lights, horns, accessories.

.


This morning (12-6-17) I received a message from the ezCAN people. They have identified the turn signal cut off issue and added it to the next software release (whatever that means).

.
 
Be aware, on the current version of the ezCAN, there is a glitch that may or may not have been fixed yet.

If you wire up a horn, you must put your auxiliary lights on one high amp circuit and the big horn on another high amp circuit. If you program the aux lights to cut out when you apply your turn signals, the aux lights will not come back on unless you manually hit the turn signal cancel button even though the signals may have already been canceled automatically.

Again, if you activate a turn signal, your aux lights will go out as intended so that other drivers can better see your front signals. However, after the turn when your bike automatically cancels the signals, the ezCAN will not turn on the aux lights again until you manually hit the signal cancel button even though the signals are already off. You basically lose the benefit of automatic signal cancellation when running aux lights since you have to always hit the cancel button to get your lights back.

I have worked with the ezCAN folks. They were unaware of this and they are making changes to the modules.

Just ask about this before buying.

Otherwise the ezCAN is a fine and useful product if you want to integrate lights, horns, accessories.

.

This must just be a problem with the GS version of the Hex EzCan, or perhaps a problem with the combination with your setup. I have installed the EzCan on my 2015, using it to power a set of Denali Dr1's (ver. 2.0) and the Denali taillight (B6). I do not have the SoundBomb horn (yet), so I have one empty circuit). I mounted the Dr1's to a set of Twisted Throttle fairing mounts, which connect to the frame just below the mirrors/turnlights. Each Dr1 is on its own channel, as it the B6. After reading Leafman 60's post (quoted above), I just had the opportunity to check out my setup. Each Dr1 goes off appropriately as I turn on the turn signal on that side. When the self-cancel cancels the blinky turn signal, the Dr1 comes back on. If I set off the Hazard flashers, the Dr1's alternate with the turnsignals. The B6 is set to "California Legal" and flashes 4 times, then goes solid, when I hit the brakes. I set the Dr1 to be @ 70% for daytime riding/50% for nighttime riding so not to blind motorists (those Dr1's are BRIGHT!), and the B6 to be on @ 10% taillight function when the brakelight is not activated.

I purchased the EzCan from Ted's Beemershop and the B6 from Twisted Throttle @ the Salt Lake Rally. I purchased the Dr1 (pods only) and the mounting brackets about 6 weeks ago. (Had to accumulate a few more funds). I hooked up the 3-wire Denali plug to the 2-wire EzCan plug using the instructions provided by Twisted Throttle (and also found on the EzCan website FAQ page). (Use 16g primary wire and only connect black to black, red to the other EzCan wire. Blank off the white Denali wire).

When I installed the B6, I did receive a software update from Hex when I hooked up my laptop to program the EzCan. This was in October, when I had time to do the B6/EzCan install. When I added the Dr1's in mid-November, there was no software update available.

This is what I did and what works for me. As always, YMMV.
 
Back
Top