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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Laconia Motorcycle Week: The tradition lives on in New Hampshire
Here's a glimpse of some bikers who braved the rain, including old-timers who've been coming to the rally for decades and newcomers attending for the first time this year. Dave Holland of Delaware poses for a photo next to his bike during Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff He's checking another bike rally off his list Advertisement Dave 'Big Foot' Holland, 67, traveled over 400 miles from his home in Delaware on a 2007 Triumph Rocket to attend the Laconia Motorcycle Week for the first time this year. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up 'It does get up and go,' he said of the bike. Holland started riding motorcycles when he was 17, with about a 20-year hiatus while he was in the Air Force and married to a woman who disapproved. 'After we got divorced, I got my bike back,' he said. In that time, he's developed certain rules for the road. 'My standard rule is one beer per tire. I have two tires. I can have two beers. Second beer means I have to get something to eat,' he said. 'I want to live a little longer than my body allows.' Advertisement Bikers flock to New Hampshire for the Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach on June 17, 2025. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Kayla Labrie from Concord, N.H., wears heart-shaped glasses under her biker helmet. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Recent converts dreaming of road trips This was the first year Kayla Labrie, 28, of Concord, N.H., had been to bike week since she was a child. She came this year on a family excursion with her boyfriend, James Stone, 34, his mother Shirley Loranger, and his stepfather, John Loranger. She and Stone were was riding Stone's bike, a 1999 Harley-Davidson Road King that he's had for five years. Stone, a mechanic, said he's made a few updates, like adding hard bags, a radio, 'fat boy' rims, and underglow, lighting that illuminates the underside of the motorcycle. 'Just cosmetic stuff,' he said. Stone estimates he's driven the bike about 130,000 miles, mostly around New Hampshire and Maine. His dream? A long road trip out west on the historic Route 66. This is his fourth year coming to bike week, Stone said: 'Just good vibes, good times, good food.' James Stone stands with his 1999 Harley-Davidson Road King at Laconia Motorcycle Week. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff The longtime bike enthusiast On the first day of her vacation, the rain did not stop Shirley Loranger from traveling from Goffstown, N.H., to Laconia to check out the motorcycle rally on the back of a brilliant blue Harley-Davidson trike motorcycle. 'I love looking at all the different bikes,' she said. 'I enjoy the clubs and the patches and the colors. It's just cool, watching people relax and let loose at the same time.' Loranger, James Stone's mother, said she's been coming to the rally for three years, but her husband, John Loranger, has been coming since 1979. 'I was in a bike club back then, and it was crazy,' he said. 'Up and down Route 3, people camping on the side of the road, (running) their own bars on the side of the road.' Advertisement Since then, he said, the scene has mellowed. 'Now, it's just a place to come and see other people and enjoy the ride and enjoy the weather.' John Loranger said he's been riding bikes since he was 16, and he got his first Harley in 1977, a bike he's held on to but no longer rides because of injuries. Dave Holland of Delaware wears a Big Foot patch in reference to his own nickname while attending the Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach on June 17, 2025. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Phil and Gloria Dussault of Methuen, Mass., pose next to their bike during Laconia Motorcycle Week. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff He traded in two wheels for three Phil Dussault, 68, said he started coming to Laconia Motorcycle Week in 1995, about 20 years after he first began riding motorcycles in 1974. 'I got my motorcycle license before I got my car license,' he said. This year, he traveled from his home in Methuen, Mass., on a 2024 Harley-Davidson Tri Glide Ultra, after trading in his two-wheeler last year. Getting older, he said, the stability of three wheels seemed like a safer way to keep enjoying the sport he loves. 'The breeze in your face and just joy riding around is so much nicer on a motorcycle, even though it's dangerous,' he said. Decorations adorn the thousands of bikes at Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Business owner Thomas Brown sits under an umbrella in front of his store on the main drag of the Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach on June 17, 2025. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Boston Globe
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- Boston Globe
‘More than bikes': 102nd Laconia Motorcycle Week expected to draw hundreds of thousands to New Hampshire
Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up Although motorcycle riders and enthusiasts come to Laconia from every state in the country, Anderson said many make shorter treks from throughout New England and the Northeast, so weather patterns in the coming days are likely to impact last-minute attendance for better or worse. Advertisement That said, the arrival of a cold affront from Washington, D.C., seems to be repelling visitors from New Hampshire's Event organizers and local business owners have heard from Canadians who are unhappy with President Trump's tariffs and other recent decisions, Anderson said. They have expressed in 'various colorful ways' that they won't cross the international border to attend this year's bike rally, she said. Advertisement 'We are really hopeful that a bunch still will come,' she added. 'They make a tremendous impact on our tourist economy, and so we want them here. We hope that they feel that welcome mat from us and from the state of New Hampshire.' Motorcyclists enter the 2024 annual Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach in New Hampshire. Kayla Bartkowski For The Boston Globe There is no centralized pre-registration system for Laconia Motorcycle Week, so organizers largely base their expectations on past experience and what they hear from local business owners, Anderson said. Not everyone who participates in Laconia Motorcycle Week spends much time, if any, in the city itself. There are With so many more bikers on Granite State roadways in the coming days, state and local public safety officials held a press conference Thursday urging the public to be cautious, courteous, and responsible. New Hampshire State Police Lieutenant Alexander J. Davis said troopers will step up patrols not only in the Lakes Region but across the state to detect and deter dangerous and impaired driving and riding. In each of the past three years, traffic enforcement efforts during Motorcycle Week have yielded more than 830 speeding tickets and more than 120 administrative license suspensions statewide, according to the New Hampshire Department of Safety Division of Motor Vehicles. So far in 2025, eight motorcyclists have been killed on New Hampshire roadways, according to DMV data. The year-end total was 31 in 2024 and 37 in 2023. Motorcyclists fill the beachfront area during the 100th Laconia Motorcycle Week in Laconia, N.H., in 2023. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images Laconia Mayor Andrew Hosmer joined those calling for people to stay safe while having fun, patronizing local businesses, and enjoying the sights, sounds, and sense of community. Advertisement 'This event is about more than bikes,' Hosmer said. 'It's about tradition, tourism, and the energy that happens when people gather to celebrate what they love.' This article first appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, our free newsletter focused on the news you need to know about New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles from other places. If you'd like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, Steven Porter can be reached at
