Vendors, businesses gear up for Laconia Motorcycle Week

WEIRS BEACH — The 103rd Laconia Motorcycle Week is just days away, and Lakeside Avenue has been a whirlwind of activity this week, with vendors getting ready, businesses preparing for the rush, and even visitors from across the country checking in.

The event runs Saturday, June 13, through Sunday, June 21.

Heather Williams and her crew at Patch Stop came from Daytona Beach for another year of vending on Lakeside Avenue. Patch Stop has multiple locations along the strip, but Williams will be sewing in Meredith, at Laconia Harley-Davidson.

“We’ll be doing patches and clothing, just setting up for Bike Week,” Williams said. “The boss has been here for more than 25, and I’ve been here for 16 years.”

Williams will be sewing patches onto leather vests and selling event clothing, and she said it is always fun, with plenty of business.

What keeps bringing her back? It's simple: the people, and the money they make throughout the week. She also said the beautiful location across from them, looking at Lake Winnipesaukee, certainly helps.

“We travel all over,” Williams said. “I’d say we do conservatively 25 to 30 rallies a year. This is actually my favorite show. It’s always good — sometimes it’s great — but it’s always good.”

Williams may be at a motorcycle rally, and some of the crew she is with ride bikes, but it’s just not for her.

“Clumsy people shouldn’t ride,” Williams said, laughing.

Nakita Lavallee is also from Daytona Beach, and like Williams, travels to most of the motorcycle rallies across the country. She works for Bikers Pride, which has six locations along Lakeside Avenue.

“This is a print tent, so basically you come in, pick out what you like — you pick out any design you want — and we’ll put it on a shirt for you,” Lavallee said. “This is an all-custom tent, baby. All custom.”

Lavallee is involved in four or five rallies a year, but her boss goes to just about all of them. She knows Laconia Motorcycle Week is among the best of the best, and is grateful to be there for the first time.

“The bikers are great, and this is the best show,” Lavallee said pointing to the lake. “Just look. It is beautiful here. It’s like we’re not even working, and just having fun.”

Seth Cleek, with American Iron Outfitters, came from Sturgis, South Dakota. He does a little bit of everything for the company, from moving merchandise around on a forklift, to stocking shelves, to selling items.

“I’m the guy who gets stuff done,” Cleek said. “I’m an everything type of guy.”

He and his crew prioritize selling merchandise at Sturgis and Laconia Motorcycle Week, and he's at his sixth rally in the city.

“I love the crowd,” Cleek said. “It’s wonderful. People are great, and the energy is good. I love the town. It’s a beautiful place to be. We stay right here on the strip, so we get to enjoy the lake view every day and night.”

Cleek said they sell T-shirts, leather, accessories and just about any type of event merchandise one can think of. He said Laconia Motorcycle Week is enjoyable, because they get out around midnight or so, differing greatly from Sturgis, which has a later, rowdier crowd.

“Here, it is a much more relaxed time,” Cleek said. “We’ve got four, nice big locations. We do fairly decent here.”

Brick and mortar businesses in The Weirs are also gearing up for the big event, with a few open for their first Motorcycle Week.

Wayfarer Coffee Roasters opened a third location this spring, toward the end of the Winnipesaukee Pier, and staff know they’ll be slammed with foot traffic.

Baristas Grace Kelly and Julian Beltran were working at Wayfarer on the pier on Wednesday, in what was a bit of a calm before the storm. Kelly just wrapped up her first year at the University of New Hampshire, and is a Gilford resident, and knows just how busy things will get.

Kelly said with the shop opening at the beginning of May, they have been able to figure out the customer base, compared to the Lakeport and downtown locations. She said the focus has been on consistency, so everyone knows what to expect, regardless of which Wayfarer they visit.

She said everyone needed to be trained in time for Motorcycle Week, and they've had a good warmup leading up.

“Before Bike Week, even now during the week, it is slower, so it is good to get those new people in to train,” Kelly said. “But now we’re all on, and we have to be ready.”

Kelly expects the shop to be fully staffed with five to six people, to make sure all the pastries are stocked, and they are ready for the big crowds.

“I am honestly super excited,” Kelly said. “It’s my first time working The Weirs, but I like the chaos. I like to stay busy and keep going, and Karen [Bassett] has trained us so well, and our staff works so well together. I think we’re totally ready and prepared.”

High Five Pizza Guys is another newcomer to the pier, and like Wayfarer, they've had a bit of a trial run this spring to prepare. Mike Grollimund was there on Wednesday getting ready for the day, and knows the big week is looming.

“We keep it generally simple,” he said. “We’ve got three pies that we offer: cheese, pepperoni, and a tomato pie. We do meatball subs and sides of meatballs. Gelato. All our ingredients are homemade. Now we’re trying to figure out what the best prep is for Bike Week.”

During the slow months, High Five Pizza Guys sells about 14 pies. He said the idea now is to figure out whether to prepare 30 or 50 pies, or more, or somewhere in between.

“We are kind of feeling it out now, that’s why we’re starting today,” he said. “We are taking it as it comes, feel it out as the days go.”

Grollimund anticipates having an assembly line of workers, upward of eight, each day for the week. A normal day would have a staff of three. Pizza will be sold by the full pie, and also by the slice, which he expects to be a big money maker.

“The slices are probably going to be our biggest thing,” Grollimund said. “We’ve been handing out free sample slices the past couple weeks, and they’ve been a hit.”

Grollimund is from Laconia, so he's attended the event, but this will be his first time working it.

“I know that working down here is a whole other ballgame, but I’m excited,” he said. “We’re all pretty excited.”

Dox on Winnipesaukee is located at the very end of the pier, through the arcade, and General Manager Jules Sacco said her staff is amped up for a big week ahead.

“We’re going to be doing live music twice a day, from 1 to 4, and 6 to 9, every day, so there is always liveliness going on here,” Sacco said. “We’ll also have Bike Week promos, and we’ll have different drink specials every day. Hopefully, we will also have some swag for Bike Week to hand out.”

Sacco said with flying being so expensive, they are actually expecting Lakeside Avenue to be busy with more vehicle traffic.

“We are hoping that means we’ll be busier this year, but we shall see,” Sacco said.

They have three years under their belt in this location, and have beeb preparing for weeks. They learned from experience, and Sacco said volume tends to be heavy and consistent.

“We have had the same head chef [Leo LeBlanc] this entire time, so he is up-to-date on prepping everything,” LeBlanc said. “Making sure we are ordering extra.”

Sacco also said the amount of beer they sell is astronomical, and Dox is prepared for that demand, as well.

“You would not believe how much beer is in our cooler right now. I think you could stack myself five times on top of myself, and there’s still more beer than that."

Nault’s Seacoast Indian Motorcycles rented out a spot at Tower Hill Tavern, where the crew, on Wednesday, was loading motorcycles into a showroom that will have dozens of vehicles to view and purchase. Employee Ralph McClellan, of Londonderry, was taking a beautiful 2015 Indian Roadmaster off a trailer. He was excited about the upcoming event, saying he gets to be around his favorite thing all week.

“Motorcycles are my life,” McClellan said. “My whole family is into them.”

Jason Coulter works for the Nault family, mostly at the Manchester and Windham locations, but he helps out at special events like Motorcycle Week. Last year, they were at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but this time, they moved right into the thick of things.

“We are moving in as much inventory from the Indian store as we possibly can,” Coulter said. “Ton of used Harleys. Ton of used Indians. Tons of apparel. It’s a great a place to get a hell of a deal this week.”

Thousands of bikes will be swarming the area in the coming days, and some have already arrived, with riders excited about what is to come at the nation’s oldest motorcycle rally.

Dwayne Harkov and Mark Krauhs are both retired, and decided to travel across the country on their BMW motorcycles. They came from the small town of Amador, in the heart of California’s wine country, and said they had quite the journey.

They stopped into Pioneer Village in Mendon, Nebraska, which they said was a highlight of the trip so far, and were headed up to the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association Rally in Essex Junction, Vermont. Before that, they stopped into Laconia, to see what the legendary rally was all about.

On Wednesday, they stood by their bikes on Lakeside Avenue, taking in the view of Lake Winnipesaukee, while pondering their next move. Vendors weren’t selling any merchandise, which is what they were hoping to snag, so there’s a good chance they could send it back through the area before making the trek home.

“We might get back down here, just to check it out,” Krauhs said.