Paul Nomad - Intuitive Traveller: Costa Rica - Mechanical Disaster and Dodgy Mechanic

While I was getting blocked around the side streets of San Jose with one way signs I happened across another adventure rider getting on his bike outside the hotel. This is when I met Polo.

His wife had been visiting him and he was about to take her to the airport. Coincidently he was staying at the same hostel so we caught up later. I was initially planning to visit the BMW dealer but my thoughts talked me out of it. I had been making some investigations into the problem, emailing my mechanic in Australia and speaking with other mechanics I had met along the way. The problem appeared to be my ABS unit, a complex and expensive part. A dealer will want to replace the part. I subsequently found out they will order the part from Germany and fit it, approximately $3000 + labour and maybe five or six weeks. They won’t bypass or attempt to repair it.

Another option is to bypass or remove the unit and reconfigure the brakes to non-ABS specifications. A cheaper option but I needed to find someone who knows what they are doing. Polo has a friend in San Jose, who he has known for most of his life. Their parents were friends. He got in contact and recommended a mechanic who knew about BMWs. Polo is Spanish so he was able to interpret for me.

We went up there together and met with the mechanic. He seemed to be saying all the right things but in retrospect there were two alarm bells I should have heard. The first was that his workshop was dirty, messy, disorganized and full of incomplete bikes and parts everywhere.

In contrast, the good mechanics I had met all had immaculate workshops. The second warning was when he took out a GS911 diagnostic tool. This is a tool that can be bought by anyone for a couple of hundred dollars. While many people swear by them, they are not even a close substitute to the diagnostic and analysis machine at BMW dealers.

If I had really been listening to my intuition I would have said a polite no thanks and gone to the dealer for a proper diagnosis. I didn’t. I returned the next day to watch him pull apart my bike and the ABS unit, then sit scratching his head when he couldn’t successfully bypass the unit or find a problem with it.

He then sat and spent a couple of hours searching the Internet. My confidence was plummeting. At some stage of the day he made a grand announcement that it was the rear brake switch that was faulty, and that the ABS unit was actually ok. I was somewhat incredulous because I had mentioned that I had suspicions about the rear brake switch but the cheap diagnosis tool had not found a fault with it, nor with the ABS unit.

He seemed very happy with himself but I was fuming. My bike was in pieces for no reason and I knew he was going to charge me. I decided it was time to leave and let him put the bike back together. I returned two days later to collect the bike without Polo and came across a less amicable mechanic who informed me that I still had no ABS, the warning light was flashing from time to time but not to worry about it, brake fluid spilt over the painted subframe and some plastic guards. He gave me a bill for $750. I argued with him that he had done nothing to the bike, he had misdiagnosed the problem and was charging me for a failed attempt at anything. He just snapped back at me that this was the price and if I don’t pay I don’t get the bike.

I begrudgingly paid and took the bike, determined not to let him put another grubby finger on my magnificent machine. I was pissed off. The brakes sort of worked for a while, then went back to the residual brakes again. If it wasn’t the ABS unit before that was faulty, it was now. He had ripped me off blind and I was painted into a corner. I decided to take the risk to ride to Panama. I have some friends who had work done at the BMW shop there and they all seemed happy with the work. I didn’t give the San Jose dealer a chance to look at it. Probably to my detriment.

In the meantime my long-awaited credit cards had at last arrived. I finally had access to my money after six weeks of cash advances and money transfers.
Not to forget to mention Pacsafe who were disappointed that their product had failed and sent me a new model replacement to Costa Rica - their cost. I really appreciate a company that stands by its products yet this was way beyond my expectation. Thank you Pacsafe!!