Shifting Gears: How Bike Week Has Changed

By Dan Gorenstein on Friday, June 14, 2002.

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Bike Week in Laconia is the oldest motorcycle rally in the nation. People have been riding up to the Lakes Region for 79 years, partying, crusing, and reveling in the fraternal camaraderie. But how has the event changed since 1923? NHPR?s Dan Gorenstein went up to ask the question.

First up, Judy. Her front yard is crowded with people and vendors.

Track 7
:13 the income of the bikers has changed. They?ve gone up. Avg. Harley owner, they make 64 thousand a year. If you look around, you won?t find any old bikes. They are new, they are well maintained. Lots of chrome, lots of custom design.

The chrome was glaring off of one bike that attracted a crowd of 30. One of the on-lookers was Chris. He drove up from Maryland.

Track 13 Chris
:30 there is a lot of money in that bike, probably about a $60-70 thousand dollar bike, twin engine, lot of chrone, the spiderman theme, the fenders on the front, big wide tire in the back. Pretty nice.

Chris says the decked out Spiderman bike is a far cry from his old man?s.

2:09 my father had a Harley back in the 50?s. He would work on it every day?it made you know how to work on them. B/c they were known for leaking oil, but they made a big turnaround.

Maintenance isn?t exactly the first word to describe Chris? Harley.

3:27 I have a ?99 road glyde, and it?s kind of a sleek looking street bike, stereo, cruise control, what I like about it, is comfort?

Paula agrees. She?s been riding bikes for 40 years. And if there?s one thing that?s changed, it?s enjoying the ride.

1:31 ?the manufactures consider the rider a lot more than they used to. You used to get stuck on a pea-pad. They have back rests, and foot pegs, and floorboards?It?s amazing how things have changed.

But Peter Hemrick says he?s made a business out of manufactures not providing enough comfort. He spends his time putting rubber padding into a motorcycle seats. The company?s name?Butt Buffer.

1:17 we are going to remove the cover, put a cavity in his foam, glue in our polamer pad, cover the whole thing with foam, put the cover back on and he?s good to go.

Ed, who?s traveled from Pennsylvania, says why he?s a Butt Buffer customer.

:32 well, I ride a lot, and I got f****** hemoroids.

Butt Buffer is just one of many vendors hawking merchandise. T-shirts, cheese steaks, and spare parts are just a few of the items ready to be bought up. At one point, ten people even lined up at the MBNA Bank?s Motorsports tent. Kurt Walters runs it with his sister.

1:42 we decided that the demographics for this type of thing has changed over the years, and that it is ready for a credit card promotion to be here, we are giving away t-shirts, which say bike week, giving them an option of signing up for a card, and getting a really nice gift out of it. Something they really want, bike week black t-shirt, no credit card logos which they hate. We did some research on this group we just now what kind of stuff they would bite for if we are pitching credit cards.

So who is coming to Bike Week?

2:15 well, we can tell you one thing, just by looking at the machines out here, these people all have money.

Sfx: hey Charlie?s Angles?

Paul Sparrow says the Bike Week crowd has changed.

In the early 60?s it was a lot of displaced people from the war who came back disenchanted and went off, free spirits, now you could be standing next to a fully leather clad stockbroker from NYC.

Or put more succinctly by Weirs Beach waitress Renee Myer.

A lot of khakis, a lot of baby carriages, a lot of dogs on leashes, it?s a yuppie thing now.

But long-time Laconia resident Mary, who has been coming for 40-45 years, says people watching, whoever they are, is one of the best parts. She recalls one of her first memories.

:22 like hells angles looking people with the beards, scruffy looking people, you never knew who was who.

Even though she was a young, she says it wasn?t scary. More like, energizing.

:37 it was like everybody ran to the corner, so they could see all the bikes go by?2:10 as a little girl it was exciting, all these different people from different places, different bikes?it was fun.

This year some called for an end to Bike Week, thanks in large part to violence between biker clubs like the Hells Angles and the Mongols. But to Mary, closing down the rally would be a shame.

2:30 canceling bike week?no, no, no, no, no, this has been here forever, I don?t think they should. It?s something to look forward to every year.

For NHPR News, I?m DG.