Artists from around the country visit the Weirs to ink tattoos during Motorcycle Week

WEIRS BEACH — In a small trailer most similar to a food truck, talented tattoo artists are inking dozens of visitors to Laconia Motorcycle Week each day and working diligently to keep the space sterile. 

Tattoo Saloon, which finds its origins in Greenup, Kentucky, operates two separate booths during the rally: one on Lakeside Avenue and the other off Daniel Webster Highway next to the entrance to the Weirs Drive-In.

On Thursday afternoon, three tattoo artists were busy putting pen to paper and needle to skin, marking visitors' trips to the 101st Laconia Motorcycle Week onto their bodies forever. They’d done 67 tattoos by Thursday morning at the highway shop and employees guessed business would pick up significantly as the rally moved on into the weekend. 

Shawn Leger, an artist who hails from Schenectady, New York, travels around the country to motorcycle rallies and races like Laconia's. He’s been giving tattoos for 27 years and said his group stops at around 15 major events each year including the rallies in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Sturgis, South Dakota.

“We make it work, man,” Leger said regarding the limited space available in their mobile tattoo studio. “We've got a good crew together, people get along.”

Leger was busy designing a stencil for Dave Irizarry, of Manchester, who would later receive a forearm tattoo representative of his time spent in the U.S. Marine Corps. It read “Semper Fi”.

“We’re just friends [that are] traveling the nation and doing art together,” Leger said.

Traveling the country doesn’t get old to him — he said he loves meeting interesting people and visiting faraway places, even though the constant travel can be exhausting. He said he gets tired of eating festival food most days and, at times, yearns for a homecooked meal. 

“But it’s worth it man,” he said. “We get to meet cool people, draw and listen to music for a living. Doesn’t get much better than that.”

After wrapping up business in Laconia, the artists of Tattoo Saloon will move on to work at the Buckeye Motorcycle and Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio. Leger will miss Laconia, though. He said the rally here is his favorite among those he attends because of the scenery.

Irizarry, who previously worked for the state as an instructor of motorcycle endorsement courses, said he loves to ride. He drove into Laconia on a 2010 Yamaha Stratoliner for the day Thursday as part of his summer vacation.

“Everybody was pumped, everybody" before 2020, Irizarry said of the rally. “Everybody was happy to be on the bike.”

He’s been riding for 12 years and attends the Laconia rally every chance he gets. He decided to get a tattoo at that particular shop because he liked what he saw outside and got a good feeling about the artists.

“I came this morning and I’ll be here all day,” he said Thursday. “The weather’s great, I timed coming up here on that. I’ve been walking around and stuff, I noticed them in here. I was talking to them and it’s a feeling that you have.”

While Irizarry was busy getting the Marine Corps motto inked on his left forearm, artist Den Rocky, of Studio 21 Tattoos & Piercings in Daytona Beach, Florida, busied away working on a yin and yang tattoo on the right ankle of another Floridian, Teresa Macertomini, who said she’d been attending the big rallies for around 20 years.

Rocky, a staple at Studio 21 for nearly 17 years, also travels around the country doing tattoos for large motorcycle rallies. He said he hasn’t had any requests at Laconia Motorcycle Week that have been too outrageous, but he did give one man a tattoo of a dancer riding a mechanical bull earlier this week.

Across the small room was C.J. Martin, who in addition to traveling the country to the rallies to do tattoo work, is primarily based at the flagship location of Tattoo Saloon, operated by his uncle Aaron “Country” Martin, in Kentucky.

Martin said city officials are easy to work with in Laconia, as far as permitting and inspections go — he noted officials in some states give him a much harder time. But keeping the small space sanitized in a busy area is full-time work. Martin is constantly disinfecting tools and surfaces inside of the truck to maintain a clean environment.

“We all do everything above the normal standard,” Martin said, adding Laconia Motorcycle Week is his favorite major rally to attend. “It’s Laconia because of the people.”

Tattoo Saloon and its artists arrived into the Weirs last Thursday and will remain there until Sunday night.

After a few moments, Martin got to work on a second tattoo for Samantha Flood of Hampton Falls. Flood came into the tattoo truck on Wednesday for a tattoo on her arm and returned Thursday afternoon for a large depiction of a Marine Corps pinup girl positioned on her left calf.

Flood said her favorite part of the rally is watching the wrestling competitions along with bodypainting and attending the Tower Hill Climb. 

Getting a tattoo at a motorcycle rally is a classic part of the experience, Flood said, and a representation of a beautiful woman on her leg made for a perfect example. 

“Rainconia,” she said. “It’s just what it is — it’s not Bike Week if it doesn’t rain.”

For more details about the shop, visit Facebook.com/100087964976789 or message Rocky through Instagram @inktelligent_1.