The Laconia Motorcycle Rally, started in 1916, as a Gypsy Tour, Bikers from the Boston area, enjoying the Lake & Mts.! This past June was technically the 101st year! The racing started in 1937 at Daytona, Indian won! In 1938, a man named Ben Campanale, from here in Worcester, Ma., won Daytona as a Privateer, on his own Harley! H-D hired him for 1939, He won again! After his racing days, he opened a H-D Dealership in Hollywood, Ca., He had Clark Gable & many other stars as customers & riding pals! In 1938 Racing came to Laconia, road racing & hillclimbs! The same thing happened in Sturgis, in 1938!
Laconia was #1 for many years, Daytona #2, Sturgis #3, today it has completely flipped around!

Anyway, who's going to Laconia in 2017? I'll be there for my 49th! BJ

 

True that, I've been to them all and totally agree that the ranking is now in reverse order. I've never cared much for Laconia, but I believe the biggest reason for that is that it is on my rear doorstep, and for me much of the hype of going to a rally is the riding in the area and that it is like a vacation where you can only go every now and again. All the riding surrounding Laconia that others enjoy when they come from afar, I experience all season long, every year so it is nothing special to me. I'm sure those that live around the Black Hills and the Daytona area perhaps feel the same about the rallies on their doorsteps.

49th time, 49th birthday, or 49th blow job?

 

Been going for years.......been to DAytona few times, not Sturgis yet...
Spend time up in Lincoln for bike week.....riding the Kanc and all the way up to Canada.......put quite a few miles on the bike that week.........and get to climb Mt Washington......spectacular view!!

 

Haven't been to Laconia yet but I'm interested so what sets it apart from Daytona or Sturgis?? What does it offer that the other 2 can't ??

 

I live 40 minutes from Laconia, bought my last bike from LHD. Good dealership to do business with. As a teenager I enjoyed going up the raising hell, as an adult got paid to go up there and bang heads together as a LEO.

As a retired adult I go up there to plunk my a$$ in a chair and watch all the peeps come and go. NH has some fine riding, lots of twisty's and plenty of weird weather. If you do come to NH, the police are on alert for drugs and booze related incidents.

 

I've been riding for almost 50 years.
I'm less than 2 hrs. from Laconia.
Been there many times, but not during bike week, and have no desire to be there during bike week.

 

Been there every year since 1999. Will be there again this year. Weather can be a challenge and LEO can be a challenge, especially the years when other people decide to make spectacles of themselves. Ruins everyone's' fun.

Daytona has the weather.

Sturgis has the best roads.

Laconia should be the best of both, but the weather can be a crap shoot and road maintenance is the same. Some years the wash board roads can be a real PITA. But Sturgis is 32 hours away, Laconia 6, so we go every year. I wish someone would figure out how to inject some life into the party up there. Starting to become same old, same old.

We have a ton of friends up in NH, we will go every year, just sometimes we only go for a weekend, like this year. Probably will be a while till we go for the whole week again.

 

Last year they had a so called CONCERT at the old drive in that failed miserably...was supposed to be Steven Tyler and a few other high end acts.......couldn't sell the tix so the concert failed.......if I remember right the prices were like SKY HIGH.......day of the event they couldn't give them away........promoter ran with the money he already got........we'll see what they have planned for this year........

 

I haven't been in 8 or so years. It used to be a great event, it became more families, and the cops policed heavily.

That area has great riding, but I can do that when there aren't 100,000 people and 5000 cops in the area.

I've been to the "big 3" and enjoyed Daytona the best. Likely because of the weather difference and trips to the keys.

 

I rotate between several. Sturgis in 2017. Laconia has some nice riding but the roads were crap when we were there 3 years ago.