It's been 7 years since I've been to bike week in Laconia, work always got in the way. This year that's not a problem and since I live in Western Maine, I'll be making several day trips. Really looking forward to it!!

 

this will be my first time going

 

I live in laconia,it's a waste of time,nothing but t-shirt vendors,it's become more of a family outing than anything.they are setting up now and it looks like several of the vendors are not going to come,good old Charlie st claire and his bull___ games.

 

Bring your bug spray. The NH State Bird, the black fly, is out in force this year!

 

Wish I was! Havent been to Laconia since 2007. It rained then too! LOL!

 

I agree, been going there for over 30 years, and it has become so much
of a kiddie carnival, it makes me want to puke!

Gone forever are the great old days of Laconia!

I do like looking at the bikes, but the rest of it is for the birds....

 

Going Friday-Sunday. 2nd time. Burned out of the Americade here in NY

 

If the weather forecast holds up I will be there this Sunday.

 

Been there last year and the year before. I will do the smart thing and avoid it this year. Going to the Harley rendzvous instead. 21+ party, no BS, no posers, no kids.

 

I mostly agree, especially with your comment on t-shirts (what a waste of $$) and parents taking far-too-young kids down Lakeside, where some of the leather "goods" are intended for non-motorcycle use (unless she's into being REALLY uncomfortable "riding *****".

OTOH, there's no sales tax and no shipping charges if you buy stuff from Hot Leathers (and bunches of other vendors) up there. With the discounts and coupons from some of those vendors, there are some fairly good deals to be had on riding gear, parts, prescription eyewear (1 hour - and CHEAP!!!!), luggage... you get the idea.

Each time I go, I find vendors selling really cool stuff, and they're almost always hidden away in one of the low-rent locations. Last year, there was a really cool trailering hitch setup for my truck (would have bought it, but the truck died), a guy selling full-replacement molded non-fiberglass hard bags (without hardware) for $79/pair (still thinking about turning my Heritage into a "bagger tail"), a couple of ideas for throttle lock levers (bought a set of plastic press-on levers for $10 - love 'em!), and so forth.

There's always a couple of organized rides, but they're almost always to go AWAY from Laconia, seldom to go TO Laconia. And, each year, they close the Mt. Washington auto road and only allow bikes to make the ride to the top (Thursday, this year). That makes the ride a lot safer: ya don't have to ride all the way to the right in your lane just to avoid drivers who veer all over the place 'cuz they're looking at the view instead of the road. If you haven't seen the top of Mt. Washington, you gotta. When you get above the treeline... wow. Be sure to take a sweatshirt - you'll need it.

Lastly:

My bike loves to be washed by pretty young things wearing almost nothing, so I make sure it gets washed a bunch of times. The bike always seems to idle a bit faster afterwards... :-)