Hamlin Cycles Now Targets Mid-April Opening

By Bud Wilkinson

It has taken Jim Hamlin longer than he expected to open Hamlin Cycles in Bethel, CT, but with zoning approval finally secured, he’s now targeting a mid-April opening. “We’re getting there,” he said Wednesday, reporting that the bases for the counters in the parts and service departments have been mounted on the floor.

Hamlin had hoped to open March 1. “The zoning delays were kind of unexpected,” he said. His next goal is to have a application for a state dealer license submitted by week’s end. Securing a Triumph franchise is close. “My Triumph application is almost finished,” he said.

Like the defunct Branchville Motors in Ridgefield, CT where he previously worked, Hamlin hopes that Hamlin Cycles can sell both the Triumph and Moto Guzzi lines, but Moto Guzzi hasn’t been receptive yet. “I’m trying to get them to come here so I can show them my facility,” he said.

As for other potential brands, he said, “There isn’t anything out there that’s available that I’d want.” Hamlin Cycles is located at 44 Grassy Plain Street.

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More women are riding motorcycles. The Motorcycle Industry Council, which tracks such info, reports that female ridership has now risen to 12.5 percent from 10.5 percent in 2009.

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With riding season approaching, it’s time to remind our friends, relatives and all others who ride to be on the lookout for riders. Here’s a vintage PSA that drives home that point:

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CFMOTO, the Chinese maker of motorcycle and ATVs, will pay a $725,000 fine and replace the gas tanks in some 1,000 vehicles under a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which claimed the company imported more than 12,000 vehicles without proper emissions certificates. More info may be found on the EPA’s website here.