7. Euroville BMW in Belo Horizonte
Euroville BMW Motorrad Belo Horizonte
I found this dealership on Google maps. It looks huge from the outside. As soon as we stopped, there were few technicians asking us what is the problem? We haven't even unloaded the bike yet. We drove the trailer with my bike into the basement where the maintenance facilities are. Four guys are taking my bike off the trailer. I move aside because I am just in their way. I said goodbye to my driver who safely got me here and the fun begins.
I showed the guys my problem and it was pretty clear to them what needs to be done. Some of the technicians are looking over my bike and trying to figure it out the plan of action. Meantime, Victor, one of the technicians is showing me around. I have never seen anything like this. Entire bottom floor is for the maintenance. There are well over 100 bikes either waiting to be fixed or being worked on. Every single one of them is BMW. They have eight workstations here and they have two mechanics per every bike they work on. They introduced me to Alex who is the maintenance manager here. He in turn, introduces me to the guys on the floor. Everything here looks like a well oiled and organized operation.
Then I go upstairs where are all the new bikes. This is the sales floor. It is huge. There is a complete BMW lineup of motorcycles. Also, there are few old motorbikes nicely restored on display. I met Rafael who is the dealership manager and also I was introduced to few people from the sales department. Both Victor and Rafael have been in Vancouver and Whistler in the past. They were surprised to hear that they passed on the road only a few hundred metres from my house. Everybody’s incredibly friendly and willing to help. They are also very interested to hear about my trip. They don't get too many bikes from Canada here. They have their own media and events coordinators here as well. One of them, Pedro asked me if they can do interview with me. Why not, it will be fun.
There is one more floor above the main floor. This is for customer events and training. The whole complex is situated on the ridge overlooking the city. They have a few patios there. The city view from there is incredible.
I went down to the service department to see what the deal is. My bike is already on the lift. The chief mechanic is telling us that the problem is more than likely the shaft drive. They will take it apart first thing in the morning and we will go from there. They don't have all the parts they need and they will have to get them from São Paulo. We are looking at one week, realistically. Nothing I can do, I'm not going anywhere. We agree that I will come back tomorrow to see what we need. They call me a taxi and I get all my gear and head to my hotel in downtown. I booked myself for four days. I think it's a little bit overly optimistic, but I can always extend my stay.
The next day is Saturday and they are open only half a day at the dealership. I get there bright and early and say hi to everybody like I have been going there for years. It is very busy as they have many customers there. Brazilians are very social people and they like to ride the bikes together. The dealership organizes small bike trips every weekend and once a month there is a bigger one. There is plenty of refreshments and food available as well. I still cannot get over the size of this operation. When I talked to Rafael, the manager of this outfit, he told me that they sell around 150 bikes a month. For illustration that's as many bikes as they sell in Vancouver in the entire year. Brazilians like their bikes, the bigger the better. I haven't seen so many big bikes anywhere in the world. And they like to ride fast. I guess that's why there are many great racing drivers coming from Brazil. And they love their big BMWs. The only BMW manufacturing plant outside of Germany is located in Brazil. They make every single BMW model there with exception of one. The plant is in city of Manus, which lies on the banks of Amazon river. My plan is to visit that city as well. BTW, this dealership, Euroville BMW is the biggest dealership in Latin America. And I doubt there's anything bigger in North America.
I go downstairs to the service department. My bike is in pieces. I can see my problem right away. The joint which connects driveshaft to the transmission is completely broken. Yeah, no wonder it was making strange sounds. While I'm looking at it, I can't help to think how extremely lucky I was. In the days leading up to this, I was riding on local freeways at speeds way over the speed limit, which is 110 km an hour. I don't even want to think what could have happened. BTW, not even the slowest tracks drive the speed limit in Brazil. I think it is a suggestion only. Anyway, I can see that few parts will have to be replaced. I am told that the parts are already ordered and with any luck, they might be here by the end of the week but realistically it will be Monday next week. OK, it looks like I have some free time ahead of me..
I head upstairs to meet Pedro from the media department. We go to the top floor away from the crowds and noise of the main floor. We set up everything for the interview and get ready. The last night they sent me questions they will be asking me so I know what is coming. It was fun. We talked about my trip and also my bike. It was funny to talk about how great my bike is while it is sitting in pieces two floors below. We did a few takes as the whole interview was in English. They speak Portuguese in Brazil so my broken Spanish is no help here. But Pedro, who is interviewing me speaks very good English. The whole interview took about 30 minutes. They posted the short version on their Instagram site. They gave me some BMW swag at the end, which was very nice of them.
I ran into Rafael, the manager, downstairs who told me that there will be a big party here on Thursday. They will be introducing new 1300 GS. It is an invite only event and Rafael is telling me that I should definitely come to see it. How can I say no to that? This new model came out in some countries few months ago, but I was already on my trip. I haven't seen the new bike yet in real life. I will definitely clean my busy schedule for that.
Meantime, Victor from the service department is keeping me up-to-date on the status of the replacement parts. The latest info is that they might be coming on Monday or, if all stars are aligned correctly, it might be Saturday or even Friday.
It is Thursday afternoon, and I am back at the dealership for the official introduction of the new BMW model, the 1300 GS. I have already seen it on pictures and read few reviews, but I haven't seen one in person. I get here way before the official time and just hang around and talk to many people here. It is easy to talk to people when you have something in common like riding motorcycles. Also to my surprise, few people already recognized me from the interview few days before. It is pretty cool. More and more people are coming and the whole set up looks very professional. They have a very good catering here with drinks and beer which they are trying to constantly refill. The whole place has a pretty good vibe in anticipation of the new bike. I've been told there is more than 300 people here. Only a short speech from Rafael to introduce new bikes, and then they pull the covers off the three bikes standing in the middle of the main floor. There are three different variants of the same model there. Everybody crams around the bikes you can’t even see. I think I am the only foreigner at the event. There is no shortage of people to talk to. It is pretty cool to talk about my trip and my experiences. Pretty much, everybody is surprised when I tell them that I'm riding by myself. Brazilians are very social and they even like to ride together. So somebody travelling by themselves is a pretty radical idea for them. It's time to go home. I will take a good look at the bikes in the next day or two when there are not hundreds of people around it. But before I leave leave, Rafael tells me to come tomorrow morning to test ride the new bike. Wow, didn't expect that! Absolutely I will be here! It was a great day meeting lot of like-minded people. Brazilians are very friendly, helpful and easy to talk to. From the social point of view, this is the best country on my trip, hands-down.
I was supposed to come at 10 o'clock in the morning for the test ride. I'm there more than one hour early. I can't wait, it's like a kid in the candy store. There are way less people here than the last night. I I have a chance to take a good look at the bikes. They look awesome. They are putting a license plate on one. This model is called Triple Black. The whole bike is black and looks pretty amazing. They check my drivers license and I signed a waiver. And I am realizing that I will be the very first person in Brazil to test drive the new bike. How cool is that?
I will be going with Victor, who has been looking after me here. He will be riding in another type. It tells me that we are going to the waypoint above the city. Awesome, two birds with one stone. Rafael takes my bike and rides around the block just to make sure that everything is as it's supposed to be. When he comes back, he hands me the keys. The fob actually, even bikes don't have keys anymore these days. Looking at the instruments on the bike, it has exactly 5 km on its odometer. All instrumentation and controls are very familiar and similar to my bike with some slight differences. I put my helmet on and we are off. I'm riding on Victor's tail as we navigate through the city traffic. I'm trying different settings on the bike just to see what is different. And different it is. A completely new engine, different geometry and many smart gadgets making your ride easier, safer and more comfortable. I'm smiling from ear to ear. We are riding on a freeway and I have to be very careful when shifting so I don't add too much power and do a wheelie in the traffic. After we get off the freeway we ride on nice twisty road in the hills above the city. The bike feels great on the freeway and even better on twisty roads. We stopped at the viewpoint and get off the bike. The city is below us, what a view! Beautiful landscape full of hills as far as you can see. Time to head back as there are many more people waiting to go for a test drive. The end comes way too fast, even though we covered almost 50 km. I reluctantly hand the keys over to the next guy waiting impatiently his turn. What an experience! To say I am in a good mood would be a gross understatement. To have their bike in pieces, many people would be understandably very stressed. But I am having a blast here. I'm just trying to make the most out of it.
It was a great morning and I'm heading back to my hotel. By the time I get there, I have a message from the service department on my phone saying that my replacement parts have arrived. Great news! I kinda plan to get out of here on Tuesday, but it might even be sooner if all goes well. And the good news keep coming. Later in the evening, I get an another message saying that the bike is ready. That is absolutely awesome, I can pick it up tomorrow which is Saturday and leave Sunday early morning. It is time to plan the next portion of my trip. But I still need to finish the blog and post pictures on my website.
I was up early in the morning, couldn't sleep anymore. I picked up my riding jacket and pants from the laundry. Great timing. I grabbed my helmet and got the taxi to the dealership. I get there and it is busy again. It is Saturday morning, and there are many riders going out for a group ride. I wish I can go with them, but I need to prepare for tomorrow. And also, I forgot about it. I talked to many people before I have a chance to see my bike. Finally I can go downstairs. Alex, the service manager takes me around the corner to the washing bay. There is my baby being washed. She looks like new. We go back to the office to sign all the paperwork. Not too much to sign, basically just a work order. I have seen the parts list. They have to order many parts and the list was extensive as much as it was expensive. However, I didn't pay one cent! Everything was covered by BMW. Absolutely amazing! That is better than a first class service. We took few pictures with all the mechanics downstairs and it's time to go upstairs to say goodbyes.
It has been only a week since I came here, but it was a busy, fun filled week. I made many new friends, learned quite a bit about Brazil and the people here. Of course I got many points where to ride next. Brazil is a big country and whatever I will do here it will be only scratching the surface. I love the country and I love the people here. Every single person in Euroville BMW was super nice to me. Everybody was interested and everybody was trying to help. You could feel that motorcycles are in their DNA. They are not here only to sell and repair bikes. The social aspect and the camaraderie around riding bikes is very contagious here. It is very hard to describe, but you can feel it right away.
It was an amazing experience and I think I made the most out of it. But it was the people from this dealership who made it happen. A huge thank you to everybody at Euroville BMW. Victor, Rafael, Alex, Tairone who put my bike together, Pedro, Hanna, Matthew and everybody else here. They all made me feel like I'm part of the group. I came here with a broken bike, but I am leaving here not only with the bike fixed, but with many new friends as well.
Thank you very much again, everybody. I appreciate very much all you have done for me. I hope I will see at least some of you in Canada so I can return the favour.