Got out for another ride on the 2nd, this time I took the 800XC. The ride started out well, I say started out well, but more on that at the end. The drive up was good, lots of deer and elk on the roadway. Weather was good, a little warm in the afternoon. Stuck to a different side of the mountain, more Indian ruins on this side vs the pond and higher elevation landscape. Rode to some of my more familiar areas and also took some side road that I haven't ridden in a while. The wildlife was not very cooperative again on the ride, I saw a single hawk and 2 deer. I was only able to get photos of 1 deer and not very clear photos. The deer were a little more skittish than they have been in the past. I didn't run across any curious cows this time. About 3/4 of the way through my planned ride, the CF Moto 800XC decided it was done for the day and it didn't care where I was. Went to start it after a brief stop and nothing, dash would light up briefly and then nothing. So my guess is the battery shorted out, if that is the case, no shame on that, it's still the original battery and it's a 2019 model. So after 6 years and 2,500 miles, the old 800 left me stranded. Fortunately I had limited cell phone service, called my wife and told her to drive to our normal unload spot and I would meet her there. The walk started, 3 + miles of walking and I finally got to the main forest road and my wife, thinking ahead, realized I wasn't at the truck when she got there (we live about 50 minutes away from the unload spot) continued up the main forest road to another familiar landmark for her. So when I got to the main road, she met me there. Then it was unhitching the trailer from the truck and taking the truck back to the ATV. Tried to start it again, using a little jumper box that I have in the truck, and yes, those little things you see on Amazon do actually work. Still no go though, the ATV would power up and start, but would not stay running unless above idle. As you know, you can't shift into gear above idle speed, so I just decided to tow it. With the help of my wife, who was not overly comfortable towing the ATV, I was able to get the ATV to the next adventure. The next adventure was getting the ATV on the trailer with no winch power. I finally just blocked the trailer wheels well enough to pull the ATV onto the trailer with the truck. Of course once the weight of the ATV hit the ramp / back end of the trailer the front of the trailer tried to reach the sky. Oh well, all good, the ATV is back at the house and I have a new battery ready to install, and fingers crossed, that is all that is the issue. A couple lessons learned, I almost always take the little jumper box with me on my rides, this time I didn't. So I will always be doing that now. Next lesson, install a winch on the front of my trailer so I don't need to use the truck to do it and eliminate the possibility of the skyward tongue of the trailer ramming the back of the truck if the wheel chocks fail. Here are some photos of the ride, including the "if there's no photo, it didn't happen" photo of me being towed. My apologies, long post and quite a few photos.
Elk in the Valle Caldera on the drive to the unload area.
Hawk
I wish the milk bottle was intact.
The bear helmet cover gets a little warm.
I try to take this kind of photo to send to a buddy that does not like heights.
I'm guessing an old TV "rabbit ears" antenna base, or microphone base.
This plastic piece of jewelry has been in this cave for probably better than 10 years. Now part of my head is on the cave ceiling as well.
Best I could do with the phone camera.
My dead CF Moto!
The wife to the rescue! I also need to get a longer tow rope so I don't have to spool out winch cable.