Hello all,

we all had good and bad mechanics in South America, and of course best is to do the job yourself, but sometimes there are reasons you cant do it yourself and you have to trust a mechanic to do the right thing on your bike.

I arrived in Santiago de Chile with a new to me bike and some simple things had to be done. As I was really sick and it was freezing cold. Also I didnt want to spend too much time in Santiago to get the bike ready for my ride up North. So I asked for a mechanic to do the job (chain and sprocket set, wheel bearings, oil change and new filter).

Christian from Casa Matte recommended a mechanic.

Vicente from Electrovich, Calle Tegualda y Rengo in Provedencia (the city center)

When I dropped the bike off at his workshop, I told him to get the best Japanese chain and sprocket set that he could find, maybe a DID or RK chain. He told me an approximate price of 150 Usd and I agreed.

Picking the bike up in the late afternoon, he had turned the lights off in his shop and he told he had put a Regina chain and sprocket set on and only this would be 200 Usd plus labor plus all the other parts. I checked the chain tension, and it was far too tight .... so I told him to adjust it correctly. Vicente started to argue that it was not too tight, but I insisted to loosen it. He told his son to adjust it, but his son could hardly hold a wrench and was not capable of adjusting it properly ... so I took the wrenches and did it myself in the dark.

Only three days later, I knew why the light was off in the workshop. Vicente had sold me a Riffle, the cheapest shit Brazilian chain and sprocket set, not worth more than 50 Usd for 200 Usd. And I found other things wrong on the bike, that Vicente or his son or who else worked on my bike clearly messed up.

So be warned !!! Vicente from Electrovich is liar and a cheat. Dont go there.

Confronting Christian from Casa Matte about the scam that Vicente had pulled off, I was not impressed by his reaction, because he blamed me for it, because I didnt do the job myself. More about this in the Casa Matte thread here on the HUBB.

Enjoy your ride.

mika

sneaky yes. but I don't waste my time with any mech in SA. the only time I use a service nowadays is to change tires and balance. dis mounting the wheel and remounting can be sketchy
I've done it many times but most mechanics down here are very low paid and don't seem to have a habit of getting the spacers right on the rear wheel. I had a Jack Ass last time I had tires mounted. this was so painful watching after he screwed up the spacers twice that I kicked his half inch impact across the floor and told him to never use that again on a Axel Nut.
I did the job myself. they are crude and no attention to detail. these shops are not used to working on large bikes. total cost was 20 Canadian for a tire change front and rear and balance Next time I will just bring the wheels in a taxi.

Most small bikes start off new and start deteriorating after visits to the shop Very hit and miss This is true with anything mechanical. the quality of work nowadays is pathetic it doesn't matter where you are.
When I purchased my f700gs in 2017 in Medellin it was a used basic model, nothing on it, so I purchase used pannier supports BMW for the vario plastic panniers I had them installed at a shop, Ok I'm good to go for the Panniers, then I purchased a centre stand SW Motech the same shop put it on. then Crash bars. at a different shop Wow I thought I had a complete built bike for traveling.

Fast forward two years I decided to ditch the panniers and go for Touratech aluminum 38-38 I bought them cheap in pristine condition used , so when I took the Bmw pannier support off I was astounded on the lengths of the cap bolts, 1 cm, grip the bolt had 3 theads into the anchor nuts. all of them.wow shitty, and on and on , the bolts should of been 2 ,cm . My centre stand lost a special pivot bolt also I had to get a machinist to make one no lock tight was the culprit, the crash bars had spacers installed in the wrong place. Not a shop here can get anything right I Kidd you not Its my job to get it right
A mechanic in the latin world is considered a labourer not a professional Even a aircraft maintenance engineer, although they have a multi tier system where some think they are elite and its a real joke

It stinks how you can never pay for anything upfront down here.

Paying a large sum down here before the work is done, is usually asking for trouble.

One thing I have learned is to try and make the job "as damn simple" as you can.

Buy the parts ahead of time and "watch them" do the work if you can.

I just had a guy paint our old apartment and I stayed and watched him work for 3 hours. Of course, there was 0 prep work to cover anything, but the guy was a great painter. Would his work have been as good if I didn't watch him? Who knows?

I have blonde hair and that makes doing business in latin america very annoying, because for whatever reason latin americans think all blonde hair people are rich. I just automatically expect that the person is going to try an rip me off now.

On a positive note, my wife and I just moved from the city to a small town and there is a night and day difference in the honesty/ integrity of the people in this town versus the city we were living in.

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http://www.journeyrider.net Latin America blog (07-8)

What a scam !!

There is a decent Motorcycle shop opposite the Triumph Dealership in Santiago. Or just go to the Triumph dealer. Proper mechanics. But I guess you'll pay a premium.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

@Ted: Thank you for the reply.



I normally ask local bikers to recommend a mechanic. But this time it backfired badly.



@gatogato: Thank you for the reply.



Yes, a South American mechanic has to be watched all the time. My fault. But I was real sick, so I couldnt. I know I should have waited until I had recovered, but just wanted to get out of the place I was staying in and Santiago in general.



As I have blue eyes, I know what you mean when you talk about blond hair.



@tohellnback. Thank you for your reply.



I try to avoid mc mechanics down here as much as I can. I even normally do my tyre changes on the floor myself. But saying this, I think I made another mistake giving a broken starter motor to a latino mechanic.





Maybe we should compose a thread here on the HUBB *How to deal with a South American mechanic*






mika

Actually bringing a starter to a starter alternator overhaul shop is a good idea In SA these guys know there stuff Fast overhaul and cheap, although amazon has new starters , fuel pumps chains and sprockets that won't break the bank account if you can wait a week or 10 days. I am not constantly riding I have period where I am out of Colombia for 1- five months working abroad so I always have parts waiting for me when I get back to Co. I have a Ideal situation and I don't have to wait for winter to do maintenance
Oh! another thing local big bike riders always know someone to do maintenance. But they don't know maintenance None of them would be a mechanic.
like I said before this is a low class occupation in the Latin world. its not respected in any way or form with the high Class Elite that own expensive bikes.
I am opening a shop in Northern Colombia , Valledupar, next year it is two hours from Palomino the Caribbean and on the the border of the Guajira - Ceasar near the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Adventure riders are welcome It will be a great place to have your tires changed and bikes prepped for the Guajira adventure The best off road riding in Colombia this place is Amazing you can actually go to the most northern point in South America , Punta Gallinas if you don't mind deep sand, mud and 40C+ temps

Saying, "Not a shop here can get anything right," is absurd unless you've tried them all. What do I know, having only ridden in 67 countries, including to and from the USA three times. I am currently in Santiago, waiting for warmer weather so I can once again ride to Ushuaia, only this time to get a ride for me and "Milagros" to Antarctica for a foto of me "riding" my 7th and last continent.
I understand someone's frustration at paying for much better quality parts and then getting ripped off, but that doesn't give you the right to generalize about ALL mechanics in Santiago, Chile, or South America. As an ex-racer, I also usually do my own work, especially in a very well-equipped hostel like Casa Matte, that I've stayed in 3 different years. Again this year, I went to Johnny Motos (on FaceBook), here in Santiago, where I had him thoroughly check out the new bike that I rode down from the US. I would pit his skills against anyone anywhere.

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Have returned to Latin America ... again in 2024/2025. +15179800336 WhatsApp