Hamlin Cycles Bans Politics, Religion

BETHEL, CT – Declaring in a Facebook post this morning that “motorcycling is a refuge,” Hamlin Cycles owner Jim Hamlin firmly deemed political and religious talk to be off-limits at his Moto Guzzi and Motus dealership here.

“All they do is make friends and riding buddies mad at each other, so take those topics elsewhere please,” he wrote, adding that “…the election is over so please stop campaigning for your candidate on Facebook. It was tiresome before the election and is downright stupid afterward.”

Injecting an optimistic note along with a threat, Hamlin continued, “The bottom line here is that it’s over and no matter who you voted for you have to hope the new administration does a good job for all of us, so please stop complaining or gloating about it or I will unfriend you. And please don’t bring the discussion to my shop (Hamlin Cycles) either, politics and religion are banned topics there.”

What prompted Hamlin’s outburst?

“Just the unending rant of some of my Facebook friends who won’t shut the hell up about it,” he said when reached by phone. “They just won’t stop. Both sides. Personally, I’m a Republican but I try to leave that out of my Facebook thing. Why these people keep going on and on about the pros and cons, I just don’t understand. I’m just sick of hearing about it.

“All it does is piss people off when you don’t agree with who is talking. Don’t ruin it by bringing it here. I’m tired of the foolishness. The bottom line is no matter what side you’re on, you’ve got to hope the new rejime does a good job because we all live here.”

While Hamlin’s Facebook post seemingly came from out of the blue, it actually reiterated a policy he announced on the social media site back in January when he wrote, “Since religion and politics have been the two most common causes of war, terrorism and violence in our world history, I prefer to avoid those topics whenever possible.”

That post concluded, “Motorcycles and politics have no place together. “