Tell us about your ride: Long-reaching Bourget

LACONIA — During Laconia Motorcycle Week, one can find a variety of contests behind the High Octane Saloon. Here, everything is judged, from female anatomy in the form of wet t-shirt and leg contests to motorcycle aesthetics. On Wednesday, Meredith Local David Lentine entered his rare Bourget into one of the competitions. The bike features a very long front end suspension and a flashy yellow and purple paint job. “It's raked out in front, and this is a fat daddy stretch because it's longer,” Lentine said. “So last time I talked to someone down in R&R Cycle in Manchester, he said that, of he knew of, there were only two of these in New England.”

The reason behind the bike's rarity, according to Lentine, is that the manufacturer no longer produces models for inventory.

“They're made in Arizona. I thought they went out of business when all the other choppers went out of business and I had emailed Bourget and they emailed me back and said 'no we're still in business' but they build to order versus building inventory, so they're still making 'em. This one's in really good shape.”

Lentine explained that he initially saw the bike in 2010 for sale at Funspot, but the price tag was a little too high at the time.

“I came back again the next year they had the same bike only it was marked down, so I looked at my daughter and said, 'I'm gonna buy another bike,'” Lentine recalled. “I was riding a 2010 Swift chopper. And she said, 'if you get that, then I get the green one' Anyways I bought the bike in 2011.”

Lentine has been riding the Bourget ever since, usually riding around Lake Winnipesaukee and the Kancamagus Highway.

“I don't go long distance, although the bike is really comfortable,” Lentine said. “It's a soft tail. A lot of people think it's rigid and it's not.”