Back at the Aerie hauling the hauler

After several very sunny, hot days at the Bolt Hole during which I did little but cower in the cabin, I drove home to the Aerie early today.

Wednesday, Mark and I had tried to get the Yamaha Prohauler started. We checked over all the wiring. Checked over just about anything we two could think of (but being non-mechanics, that wasn't much!) and then even tried jump starting the thing by towing it behind Mark's van and slamming it into gear. (It's difficult to do when the gear shift is a foot lever and you'd like to get into 2nd gear.) We had no success and ended up pushing the ATV onto the utility trailer for a trip back to PA.

I researched Yamaha dealers/servicers in the area and found three: One in Elmira, NY; one in Hugesville, PA and Larry's Sport Center in Galeton, PA. I decided I'd rather deal with someone from God's Country (that's what they call Potter County, PA which is home to Galeton) and so made plans to call Larry's when I got close to home.

I did make that call from a rest area just north of the NY/PA border on Route 15--in case I could bring the ATV out there via Routes 49, 349 and 6--only to find that the service department has a month's worth of work on their hands. They also sell motorcycles (Harleys) and this was a prime season for repairs and maintenance.The service manager was sorry he couldn't help, ASAP but asked what the problem was. I described the "click-click-click" I was getting and he surprised me by saying that it sounded like I might have a weak battery. That was the last thing I would have thought of since the lights seemed bright enough and the charger had indicated no problems with the battery. He suggested that I try using the truck's battery ("Do NOT turn the truck on!" he warned.) and a set of jumper cables to see if I could get a response from the ATV's engine.

In the driveway of the Aerie, I ran the jumper cables from the truck to the ATV, turned the key, pushed the starter and got a much more familiar "grrrr-grrrr-grrr" as the ATV's engine attempted to turn over. That was enough to convince me that the problem (probably? hopefully?) lies with the battery.

Terry and I took the drive this afternoon out to Galeton and bought a replacement battery from Larry's Sport Center. It's charging in the garage right now and will be ready for installation tomorrow or Saturday. If it get's the ATV to run, I'll have saved myself a bundle on repairs--and Larry's will be the first place I go when I decide to purchase a new ATV.