Need Help in Costa Rica - Bike impounded

Supreme Court, on motorcycle tag violation? Not even in Afghanistan.

It's costa rica, it's not like they're busy, and it's because it's a government worker that has violated someone's freedom of movement.

That is just money for a new Mercedes fund for a lawyer!

easy for you to say since it wasn't your ride that got snatched illegally.

also, unlike in the US, lawyers in CA generally charge FAR less, making it very affordable for foreigners to hire them. they also generally charge flat fees for specific tasks and avoid hourly arrangements.

Exactly, lawyers are so part of everyday life here that they are everywhere, and are cheap. you need a lawyer to buy/sell land/cars/bikes get married ect, they are used here because most of the people are under-educated and don't have a clue how to do things, the lawyer is the middleman to get it done. one i have my band played at his birthday party 10 years ago, he won't take my money. another, i keep his guitars fixed, so he won't charge me ether, another is the singer in a rock band, and i know his brother another guitarist in a metal band, so he charges half to my friends that want to import a bike, so we have a quid pro quo thing going on, plus two of them have bikes and are pissed that someone is fucking with another biker. so legal fees don't have to cost a lot. now someone walking in off the street is different, but this is why you ask for help from someone that has been here for awhile, hence this forum

Thanks buddy! Made my life real easy getting mine plated.

shit yeah, i'll pay someone to stand in line for 4 hours anytime, as a side note, i got my RTV and INS sticker yesterday, all in the same day, amazing, i might not do anything else all week, jajajaja

So what is the outcome?

still waiting for the owner to decide what to do, i can only offer to help. he thinks he is going to sell it without tico plates. not legally, and not for what he wants, he get's the plates, then he can sell it, for what he wants, easy.

"Legal team on standby "..."Supreme court " ...lawyers working for a set of guitar strings , and I thought Guatemala was third world

Sorry to leave you guys hanging for the last week. Junior loaded up a wad of money and headed to the border to get his bike. Here is the final tally....

Tax = 1156
Fine = 1023
Document = 100
Agency = 141
KLR value = 50
Impound = 389
Reg Plates = 304
Perm to Leave =15
Total = 3178 US $$$

Junior has just had his ass handed to him on a silver platter by the Tico custom and border cartel, less a few pounds of flesh just for good measure.

Was it worth it..........debatable by ANY standards!!

When this is all said and done, I'd sure like to know what the cause of this was.

Did he pi$$ off the wrong guy? Say something wrong to a muy importante oficial?

There must've been something other than a minor infraction to cause all of that grief.

We were unsuccessful with both the CDN and the CR embassy people who had lots of talk but nothing tangible to take to the border and get this problem resolved.
We were unsuccessful with the Ministerio de Hacienda, who supposedly oversee the customs people at the border. They were great about responding to my 15 or so emails but again gave no specific advice other than to head back to the border to get this resolved.
The border people gave three different amounts on three different occasions for taxes, fines, impound fee's.

In retrospect should we have pursued the lawyer suggestion to start with....YES but time and money are always an unknown with that avenue.

Juniors advice to future riders that will be entering CR, leaving for a short period of time and then re-entering CR:
get your existing TVP cancelled when you leave instead of having it suspended.
Purchase a new TVP when re-entering. IF you do get into this situation, bargain the $500 bribe request down to the best of your ability and then vacate CR ASAP.

To everyone that provided advice and assistance that I requested at the beginning of this thread...........THANK YOU!! If you are cruising through Calgary and need a warm bed, a cold beer, a hot shower and a nice meal, please don't hesitate to PM me before you arrive and I will guide you in.

Is this possible.........of course, however he has had no other incidents in the other 30 or so border crossings he has made throughout his travels in both SE Asia and SA so it is not in his character to get mouthy to people who control his destiny. His Spanish is passable conversational only, so it is possible that he inadvertently embarrassed someone of importance without realizing having done so.
The people that failed to "unsuspend" his TVP were at the south border crossing and his bike was not confiscated until he was at the north border crossing. Could they be working in cahoots.........again unlikely but certainly possible. This situation seems to be a rare occurrence based on my research so it remains a mystery to me also. A young guy that hasn't shaved for 7 months, riding a KLR 650 does not exactly stand out as someone reeking of money, so this being a random opportunity to exploit a "wealthy" north American does make much sense either.

Glad he is ok.

After paying all the above, would he have not been legal to sell his KLR like some suggested for a high price and then catch a plane back to Oh Canada?

Yes, he is legal now and has put his bike on Craigslist and a few other local sites in hopes that he can sell but I don't believe that he has had much interest. He is hanging out this weekend and will start riding back north early next week. His original plan was to ride back to Mexico and then take a month riding around Mexico and then a month riding back through the US. He really enjoyed the US on his way south as there are lots of fun back roads to ride, good scenery, and lots of places to do his camping!!

Glad you sort of got it figured out. If I had my place here your son would be welcome to stay and volunteer endless hours of labour..... But since the neighbour of the property I tried to buy legally stole a good chunk of land from it, I won't take possession for months or never as the Lawyers battle it out. So Now I'm in a small rental near the Southern border.

My take on the situation is a Lazy guy in the South vs someone who spotted an error in the North and stuck with it, possibly opportunistically.

I've been here 6 months now and seen a lot of sticklers for the rules. There's no thinking outside the box here.I was in Nica on a bus for a Visa run coming back to CR. Getting on the bus, the Nica guy said "there's your seat but the bus is empty so sit where you want". At the border, he stayed in Nica and the CR dude took over. He became all upset, giving me instructions and trying to explain something I didn't understand. Finally he took my ticket and made me sit in the assigned seat. So I became stuck at the front, jammed into the seats elbow to elbow just because that was my seat. 3/4 of the seats were vacant. Nobody cared but me. I had only been 2 rows behind and he sat at the back texting as his job was done. It's just the way it is.

But yes, it could've been intentional and any Gringo is rich by comparison. Just having a KLR or anything bigger than a 150 is the Dream of many here. I passed through that border a few times and there are many vehicles locked up for ages it seems. A grim reminder, just like skeletons in shackles.

He's older, wiser and in good health, doing what many will only dream of. There are worse things in life.

"He's older, wiser and in good health, doing what many will only dream of. There are worse things in life."

Well said...........similar to the rationalization I sent him last night after I pointed out a $400 US error in his spreadsheet, not in his favor.
"Count your blessings, not your money"
That being said this is a big pile of money, especially for a young man who is riding around on probably 50% of his net worth and the other 50% are his cash reserves that he uses to live from day to day while on his journey. As his father I feel bad for him and the more I think about this the more pissed I get. However, this is NOT North America, their laws are different, their attitudes toward their laws are different so it is an important lesson to understand that a traveler really needs to adjust their thinking when they enter these country's that are so dramatically different than what we are accustomed to. And Reaver is exactly right when he states that he is doing what many of us will only dream of doing.......myself included!!

"Glad you sort of got it figured out. If I had my place here your son would be welcome to stay and volunteer endless hours of labour..... But since the neighbour of the property I tried to buy legally stole a good chunk of land from it, I won't take possession for months or never as the Lawyers battle it out. So Now I'm in a small rental near the Southern border."

My apologies.......I reread your post.......my son's problems are miniscule compared to your legal issue!!! Hope you get that sorted out....soon. Just started reading your RR..."cars with snorkels".......great stuff. Good luck with the business!! Sounds like the perfect niche market in that country supported with reasonable expectations.

In Brazil where I've lived decades, my first two children, now fully grown, were born In Costa Rica where we had a dairy farm on Volcón Poás...

Without being there, knowing much of anything yours is my take too. Lazy bureaucrat + mistake at the Southern border, and the literal follow through at the Northern border endemic in many of these countries = an unfortunate 1 in a 1000 misadventure. Bad luck. From my own multiple legal forays, involuntarily I'd say "let it go". Going the legal route in Latin America is often worse than thankless and expensive, an endless source of frustration and emotional pain. Little good can come of it. The rules bend too easily- either for or against, not too likely "for", either, when a gringo is involved. All in all, things could be much worse, he's had a great trip, best thing now is to try to forget (Yes, I know that's hard) and move on. Good luck.