‘No mask, no service’
Bike shops take precautions amid coronavirus
By Peter Yankowski
When Jim Hamlin takes a customer’s bike in for service at his Bethel motorcycle shop, he and the mechanics are careful to wipe down anything the rider may have touched.
That means keys, rubber grips and the plastic switches on the handlebars all get hit with sanitizing wipes, the owner of Hamlin Cycles said. Everyone also wears a mask.
“We just have to wipe the place down every time someone drops off their motorcycle for service,” Hamlin said
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, customers would hang around the shop and showroom, where Hamlin sells Moto Guzzi and Aprilia motorcycles. Now he asks customers to take a walk around Bethel while the shop services their bike — something that can be tough when temperatures drop, he admits.
As most businesses shut down or arranged to have their staff work from home, mechanics and others in the auto industry have been designated essential services.
The throngs of bikers that have turned out on nice days this month are no surprise. Hamlin noted that May is typically the busiest month in the motorcycle industry in the state.
“Basically we’re doing our jobs just like always,” said Hamlin, who said sales of motorcycles have dried up even as his service department has stayed steady.
Keith Libby, owner of Libby’s MotoWorld in New Haven, said he put caution tape on his floor to space out customers even before it was mandated by state regulators.
“My employees and customers thought I was nuts,” he said.
He has a sign on his door now: “no mask, no service,” he said, which not everyone has followed.
His service department has seen a number of old bikes brought in by families who want to put the machine back on the road.
“All in all, I’m seeing a lot of old machines come out of the woodwork,” Libby said. He thinks those are mostly from families who want to get a motorcycle back on the road after a decade or more of it being laid up in a garage or shed.
“People are tired of sitting at home playing video games with no entertainment,” he said. “There’s no school, the kids are home.”
He said that while sales of big, expensive motorcycles over $10,000 are down, his showroom has sold a lot of small pit bikes for riding in backyards and utility vehicles.
Libby said he hopes people continue to wear masks. “It’s going to be a while before we get through this” he said. “I’m in no rush — I kinda made a little pact with myself that I might not get a haircut until we go 24 hours without someone dying,” he said. “I may have hair to my toes by then,” he added.