Police presence
 

I have seen people post that one of the reasons why the numbers are down is because of police presence. Correct me if I am wrong but if people are not coming because the police are there then they are coming to cause trouble and are the ones you do not want there anyway. My family and I have been vacationing in the Weirs beach area for 17 years(we did go to Maine for a 4 year stint) and 14 or 15 years ago when we would come up on a Saturday to get from the Margate area to fun spot it would take at least 15 minutes because of the traffic backup. If you went to any of the attractions like Funspot or the Weirs water slides they would be packed even during the middle of the week. It is not that way anymore so I think the decline in the number of people at bike week can be attributed to the economy more than anything else.

What are you talking about? Nothing of yours was removed.

Spider...

Talk to the customer.... ask the bikers (customers) who attend bike week what thier biggest gripes are. I did and in order of popularity....

1. TOO MANY COPS! One couple I asked about gripes actually asked me why so many cops? Were we (Laconia) expecting some massive brawl to break out? They had been to both Sturgis and Daytona and had never seen the level of Police presence they saw in Laconia!

2. WEATHER... but you cant do anything about it!

3. PRICE GOUGING! Every hotel and condo near the strip jacks the prices and requires multi-day stays...

4. LIQUOR ENFORCEMENT... several people I talked to had been asked to leave a bar not because they were drunk but because they had been there too long. Apparently (and I confirmed this) the Liquor Commisioners kept track of how long people were in a bar... drinking or not!

IMHO there needs to be a comphrehensive plan for Bike Week... especially in a crappy economy such as this!

Make the Weirs like Key West or Bourbon street and allow people to walk around with a beer or drink in a plastic cup! Be welcoming to Bikers... instead of busting everyones butt on stupid crap (loud pipes, flashing, etc) let it slide, let them have fun! Lessen the police visibility! I was told by a VERY reliable source the NHSP were given orders to crack down on EVERYTHING! Sure, have some cops staged nearby for a fast response time, just in case but dont blow the budget on them! 7 NHSP cruisers withn 1/4 mile of each other with no crowds and no traffic is beyond excessive!

Woodsy

Let it slide
 

Woodsy ...
In your opinion when my family and I go up for vacation this summer I can cut the exhaust out of my truck and get drunk and drive up and down Weirs Blvd. while my wife flashes everyone on the boardwalk and the cops should let it slide because after all we are just having fun.

really?!
 

Allow people to walk the strip openly drinking??!!
Simply look the other way as women expose themselves?!
Yeah, that'll bring the crowds back. Problem solved, I say.
Wow...are you all right???!!!!
Also, someone had a stopwatch on how long people stay inside a bar? Sorry...not buying that one.
But I'll ask at Gringos this weekend...they would know if that is true, as well as anyone.

Spider...

Its BIKE WEEK! A national rally that has been held in June in Laconia for 88 years! BIKE WEEK caters to BIKERS.... not necessarily a FAMILY event. I hope when you come up you enjoy your stay. If you dont like bike week then dont visit that week.

I am a FULL TIME 24/7 365 resident of Weirs Beach for over 10 years now. I welcome all to come up and enjoy what I get to enjoy year round! I moved here KNOWING full well how Bike Week is. I embrace it! Its alot of fun for me, and the $$$ Bike Week generates carries ALL of my merchant friends through the year! I know alot of locals to Weirs who work Bike Week and put some serious extra $$$ in thier pockets! When your having a cold rainy summer like this year has been so far, BIKE WEEK is a godsend... it determines if you stay in business or fold!

No offense to vactioners such as yourselves, but if the weather is off, or the economy is off (in this year BOTH suck) you guys do not visit in the numbers needed to sustain most of the local businesses. I know of one business who was off $10K in sales....

The Weirs needs a makeover.... similar to Key West. Open air bars.. cool music... funky shops, fun for all. Meredith already is high end and I applaud the job they have done there. The Weirs needs to retain its honky-tonk flair while being upgraded to a modern destination! I think this state needs to develop a plan for the Weirs and Hampton Beach... designate resort zones... relax some of the liquor rules, encourage people to visit and have fun.

SA... ask the folks at the Gringo! I will prob be there! :) Whats wrong with walking around with a plastic cup of beer? In a desigated resort zone? They do it all over the world! As far as flashing goes... it never happened all that much even back in the so called "WILD" days of bike week.


Woodsy

I'm guessing
 

I'm guessing they were all here cheering on the Bruins

I guess this is why I have a lot more fun reading and posting on the HD and Roadglide forums...

Live Free or Die :rolleye2:

Woodsy...
I bring lots of $$$$ every year to the weirs area every year so I guess that gives me the right to break the law when I am there.

agree
 

Woodsy...I certainly do agree with you about the Weir's needing a complete make over. It's too bad the fire this past winter didn't spread and burn the whole strip to the ground.
Other than the bowling alley being gone, I believe the strip looks the exact same as when my parents brought us there in the 70's. Old, run down, time has past it by.
If not for Gringos, and maybe LP, I would imagine I would never dock there, to spend some money.
I mean, how many slices of pizza does one need? And how many video games or ski ball does one need to play.
Just look at the waterfront in Meredith. Why can't the Weir's be as nice.
Totally agree about open air bars/restaurant/live music.
The name escapes me, but the outdoor beach bar in Meredith, near the now closed Christmas Store...how great is that place? What a fantastic spot to hang out, grab a frozen drink and some lunch...bacon wrapped hot dog, holy cow!
The bar and grill at the very end of the pier is sort of the right concept...but somehow misses the mark. It would seem so much more could be done with that spot.
And the plane crashing into the volcano? Had enough of that.
Do they still blast that cannon every so often? That can scare the crap out of you, if you don't know it is coming.
Anyway...

Not to make lite of your 2 or 3 weeks visiting but you not spending your hard earned $$ would make a huge dent in the local economy....better not venture down to Ft. Myers beach cause you can drink beer in plastic cups and the women are scantily clad :eek:

now you see it now you don't
 

Let me help you on this one,the NHLC does not use a stop watch but they certainly do keep track,just like local cops chalking tires.I have worked bike weeks for 10 years as a bartender and a door man and ask any local bar(start with the Gringo) and you'll find it to be true. Like my mom always said.."have as much as you like,but when it's gone...it's gone..sure gonna miss that $$$ when bike week moves on.

The problem with Bike Week is the EXCESSIVE POLICE presence! There were way too many cops... way too few people! I get the whole public safety thing... but come on! On 2 seperate occasions i took pictures of a group of 4 NHSP cruisers just hanging out! In one pic taken Saturday a 5th NHSP cruiser was just out of the picture! On walk to the Weirs I counted 7 NHSP cruisers between Kellerhaus and Lobster Pound! SEVEN NHSP cruisers within a 1/4 or so?? Really? This is all with ZERO traffic backup...

Woodsy - perhaps you would like to be one of the few "staties" there with very little backup? Not me that's for sure. When there's too little and there's trouble people complain. When there's to many and it's quiet people complain.

Spider...

I am sure you spend alot of $$$ when you come on vacation! Most vactioners and tourists do. I am in no way insulting you. My point is, the Weirs sees approximately 20,000 to 30,000 bikes on average EVERYDAY of Bike Week! There are not enough vactioners to compete with that! Its just numbers! Even if the bikers only spend an average of $5 per person per day (way low) its a major amount of money! I see no reason why some rules cannot be relaxed for this one week! Especially if it helps the local economy! They already relax some rules now for Bike week. While they enforce other in Draconian fashion! I say cater to your customer! During Bike Week cater to the Bikers! Before and after Bike Week cater to the tourists and vacationers!

SA...

I am in agreement with you! I just dont want the Weirs to become Meredith.... I think the honky tonk flavor should be preserved but updated. Cool bars, Cool Music, Funky shops.... make the Weirs a destination not just some old arcades and pizza! Let people sit on a bench and watch the boats on the lake with a beer? Is that soo harmful? Walk down to the Lob Pound from the Gringo and maybe stop into a new key west style open air bar in one of the old arcades on the way....

DPG....

There is PLENTY of backup.... I could understand if Bike Week was a notoriously rowdy event. But its just not. There are plenty of cops walking around. I am not opposed to staging a few cops close by "just in case"! But the Police presence is truly overwhelming for the number of people....
Woodsy

I actually only visit for 1 week and you are right me not going there would not greatly affect the local economy(although a lot of businesses did close during the 4 years we went to Maine instead LOL). The point I am trying to get across is that just because the bikers who attend bike week bring in revenue does not give them the right to break laws that the rest of us have to abide by the other 51 weeks of the year.

Even though the economy might not miss the money that I spend there every year but I do behave myself and I don't think they have to add any man hours to the police force the week I am there.

bantering aside
 

I really hope you have good weather and you and your family enjoy your vacation...;) We need to keep the economy working.

I broke down Sunday and took a ride down to the Weirs, first time in a few years. I'm currently bike-less but I only paid $10 to park a SUV at noon behind Donna-Jeans. I paid more 20 years ago.

The first vendor I met was selling fried fish for half his posted price. It was his first year, he doesn't know if he's coming back.

IMHO bike week is in a tranistion, and I'm not sure what way it will go. The glory days of bike weekend was always a little bit about the danger. Drinking, girls, burn-outs, wheelies, it was unsavory. We came to watch the crazies, always wondering what would happen. We wanted to be close to the dangerous Hollywood biker lifestyle but not actually get killed. People in the lakes region don't really want that anymore.

So now it can morph into at good reason to take a bike ride around the state, stop at nice restaurants and have fun with friends.

Or it can change into Key West or the French Quarter for a week.

What we have now seems unstable. There are some weird juxtopositons.

The blue haired girl selling lemonade really bothered one father with small boys, he carefully stood to block their view. It was comical.

Something tells me that the Progressive insurance game booth will be further away from the massage girl booth next year.

Spider...

They already temporarily change some of the rules just for Bike Week...

For instance you cannot have live outdoor music in the Weirs past 10:30... unless its Bike Week! The parking meters are not enforced Bike Week either!

Why not temporarily change some other 'Rules" to cater to the 20,000 to 30,000 that visit the Weirs EVERY DAY during Bike Week?

JRC...

I agree the "Glory Days" of Bike Week are long past! But why not have both? A Key West Bourbon Street flair to the Weirs (all summer) and destination rides like North Conway with nice restaurants?

Woodsy

You don't see a difference in loud music after 10:30 and things like drinking and driving and women exposing themselves. I don't have a problem with people drinking and having a good time if they are walking or staying put but when there is 20 to 30 thousand in an area you need a large police presence.

The sprint cup races at Loudon bring in almost 100,000 people twice a year so according to your logic people should be allowed to drink and drive and women should be able to expose themselves and the police should look the other way because after all it is binging in money.

Intersting discussion and points of view. The Weirs and bike week itself could sure use some new direction - as has been stated. But in the end it all comes down to money - right. Would be curious if the "net" inflow for the town of Laconia itself (in terms of permits, taxes, etc.) from bike week would justify the expenditure on extra police?

As for the "crack down on everything" I think this may be the way the town/state are trying to make sure the extra police expense pays for itself in ticket revenue, etc.

I'm afraid the town/state perspective on this may be jsut that it is a money making opportunity.

lets change it for all of the following
 

Lets change the law for all of the following:

Bruins Rolling Rally or any sporting team that wins a championship
The Boston Marathon (love to see those Kenyans do a little flashing)
The Hockey Classic in Merideth
Winni Fishing Derby

Sure, why not, I and people I know people who would enjoy both. It's all about the taming of bike week.

I'm a little nostalgic for the old days when not very event and venue had to be child safe.

I think you might be missing Woodsy's point about Bike Week and the Weirs as a whole. :cool:

don't get me wrong, I am not against bike week. I just don't think because you have a motorcycle and are one of the 200,000 that go to bike week it gives you the right to break the law. Millions of people vacation in the lakes region every year, my family included. Quite often when I am there I mix my first drink shortly after lunch and I might have 4 or 5 by the end of the day but if we are planning on going anywhere that day I usually only have 1 and 2 being the most.

One of the points that I was trying to get across was that if it is all just harmless fun then why should a heavy police presence deter anyone from going up there.

Moderation
 

Spider, there was trouble a good few years ago that precipitated the crackdown but that seems to be past us. As many riders (myself included!) have gotten older we have mellowed out.

There is a substation right at the W where reserve officers can wait and respond if needed. What is going on now just is not welcoming at all.

I think what Woodsy is trying to get across is that the Weirs for 365 days a year should be designated as a resort area where the "laws" would be different, i.e. walking around with a beer/drink like you can in Vegas or New Orleans/Bourbon Street. Makes for a funner atmosphere if you ask me. O.K. Flame away! :)

I have never been to bike week but from everything I have read it has mellowed out from the way it used to be. This is the first I have heard about a substation close by and maybe that is the way they should do it so they could respond in a timely manner. I hope you can continue to enjoy bike week for several years to come. I also hope that attendance at this event as well as other events grow in the years to come. Like I said in an earlier post I have been taking a week's vacation for several years and have seen the crowds diminish over the years and that to me is not a good sign.

About 20 years ago, I stopped visiting the Weirs on saturday night of Bike weekend as it was then. I'd drive down in my boat qnd do all the people watching I could. Very entertaining! Spent some $$$$. Went back the next year to find a docile, boring, just plain uneventful evening. In the many years that I went, I never saw anybody hurt anybody else. No fighting, just good times. What I noticed different that boring year was the police presance EVERY 30 feet down the bordwalk. Also saw alot of signs stating the $250 fine for flashing. Last I heard, this wasn't advertised as a family getaway weekend. I remember driving up Rt 106 in the 70's. NOW there was some serious going ons!
Lets also remember that Meredith was rebuilt with private monies, not public. Also remember how much a lunch or dinner cost at Lago's or Church Landing as opposed to Gringos or any other establishment at the Weirs. You might be able to rent a small cottage for a week at the Weirs for the same price as one night at Church Landing.
I also thought that the area was kinda quiet this past weekend, not that I traveled down to the Weirs, but Meredith was.

The Weirs has been a dump for decades. Bike week has been a constant. I don;t think Laconia has ever forgotten the riots at the Weirs, which occurred some 46 years ago. It's quite obvious they will never forget them.

If people want to change the nature of a community, they have to do it themselves. Generally, that means having to change your local government by electing people that actually represent you. Given that Laconia has been, by and large, mostly the same for many decades, I came to the conclusion that this must be what most of the people want. If that's not an accurate assumption, those politicians must have a lot of power all by themselves.

I also don't think you necessarily need a wild Key West or Bourbon Street atmosphere to be a successful community. That's not to say it can't, or shouldn't happen. There are many, many things you could do to make the Weirs and surrounding areas a more desirable area. What that may be will be decided by people with money, and of course, the local government. So far, nobody's really interested in resurrecting the dump. So Bike Week remains the single most successful offering, like it or not.

There's a lot of competition for people with real money to spend on vacations. So they better choose wisely.

Arch...

The City of Laconia recoups its cost thru vendor fees and site permits. Bike Week usually costs Laconia nothing, and in a few years the city actually had a surplus of $20,000 or so. The NHSP are paid for by the State of NH. I would be interested to see the cost of all the NHSP presence!

Spider...

Maybe you should come attend a bike week before formulating an opinion. Not being a jerk, but check it out first. When you walk down the strip on Lakeside Ave and there are 2 cops every 100 - 150' or so its a bit excessive. When I walk from my place to the Lobster Pound and count 7 NHSP cruisers just hanging out and shooting the sh*t... and not a crowd to be seen! There is a problem!!

I dont know how much you follow the news up here, but last year Bruton Smith the owner of NHIS told the town of Loudon to go pound sand (essentially) when they submitted the police bill for one of the races! He found it to be VERY EXCESSIVE and refused to pay. They worked a deal out of some sort.

http://www.thenascarinsiders.com/201...-bruton-smith/

Bike Week has 1/5th the number of people in the Weirs than the 100,000 at NHIS, yet at any given time has a much greater cost in Police presence! To address your concerns about drinking and driving (or walking) it all boils down to individual responsibility! We have strictly enforced DWI laws... I am in no way advocating thier repeal.

If you make it fun the crowds will come back! If you dont and you continue with an oppresive police presence then they will go elsewhere!

Woodsy

My opinion on this is that if I was walking down the boardwalk at weirs beach on the fourth of July with and open beer and drinking it I would be arrested. Why should it be OK for someone to do that just because it is bike week? I do not need to attend a bike week to form that opinion. If they want to pass a law allowing open containers, loud exhausts, and women flashing on a certain street(s) or certain town(s) then they would have to be for the whole year not just one week. I think most of us would agree that it would not be a good idea.

Sorry folks but comparing Key West to Laconia Bike Week is apples and oranges.

No doubt that police chiefs are always looking to get more hours and details. In Greenland they even got a movie theater to have to pay for details.

However, in the case of Bike Week there is a lot of trouble just waiting to happen. It's a rough crowd. If they back off on the police presence then it's only a matter of time until people feel they can push boundaries and then the cycle continues as soon as problems flair up.

My respect has diminshed greatly for people on Winni.com after seeing some of these posts. Now we have people saying to allow near lawlessness on public streets for the sake of making a buck. May as well ignore people smoking dope and shooting up too:(

The bikers get gouged just like every other place in the country. Ever try renting a room in Manhattan on New Year's? I was in Singapore during the Grand Prix and my company had to fork over $1100US per night for my room. Two days later the rate was back down to the usual $240US/night.
It's always that way as hotels and vendors have the upper hand. Not sure why people can't grasp that.

I firmly believe NH can do better than Bike Week with different events. It's not that hard. Feature the friggin lake!!!!!!!!! The marketing of NH is terrible.

This guy likes to have fun as much as the next guy but I think Bike Week is a drag on the area. Is a large area of beer tents and drunk drivers the best thing NH can offer? I don't think that's the case. People need to get rid of their paradigms thinking Bike Week is the only thing that will work in that area.

What the Weirs needs is to be leveled; erect shiny, new tax producing CASINOS.

Then when bike week comes, the Hells Angels will roll in, full throttle, and things will get really wild ...

see ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frb12...has_verified=1

Well said..what are some folks thinking?

Don't forget that bike weekend was started for bikers by bikers, this is not some cowboy poetry festival invented by the federal goverment.

If the bikers get bored with it, they won't come.
If the city makes an unpleasent experience, they won't come.

Then the city can find some other ways to draw crowds before the Fourth of July.

Like everything else, these is a balance, loosening a few rules does not mean Sodom and Gamorrah. I been to Burbon Street, there is a balance.

We are the free-est state in the nation, we should be able to have a good time without an overbearing police presence. We should be able to enjoy our rights as long as we behave responsibly and not be subject to strict rules because somebody might get out of hand.

The police should be ready and able to deal with trouble but be invisible if there is no trouble. The police should never cause the trouble.

Mayor Daly to the rescue
 

"Gentlemen, get the thing straight once and for all– the policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder."

Mayor Richaard J. Daly, speaking about the riots in Chicago at the Democrat National Convention 1968 .....

have to agree
 

I was watching a replay of the Boston Bruins Parade last night and noticed a very large police prescence. I didn't hear anyone complaining on the news about that or how it ruined their good time. And if they win it again next year, I bet just as many people if not more will attend and won't stay away becasue of all the police on hand. I bet Vancouver wished they had planned better to beef up the amout of law enforcement after game 7. As far as Bike week NH, The cops aren't there to harass anyone. They are there to enforce the law. And if you don't break the laws, you have nothing to worry about. No one, whether its bike week or 4th of July weekend, should ever be intimidated by the number of police. I do remember 20 years ago, sitting along the road leading into Paugus Bay, the parade of bikes coming through on motorcycle weekend. A great parade to watch. But I also remember the flashing (not that I'm complaining) and I also remember a car with 2 girls ini t that was nearly tipped over because they wouldn't flash. I was happy to see the police rush in that day.

I agree with you but I think we're sitting on different sides of the table. Again, I am contemplating logging out of winni.com to never come back.

dpg
 

I will not get into it other then to say I have lost all respect for NSP. I had an incident many years ago which fortunately the judge saw thru their lies and threw out the charges.
Then this past bike week I witnessed more acts of, I’m wearing a uniform I can do no wrong attitude. Way too many instances of police abusing their authority.
FYI, I haven’t received even a traffic ticket since 2001 so it is safe to say I’m not a trouble maker, not even one that doesn’t get caught.

Having been to Bourbon Street several times and Key West many times I really don't think The Weirs could be turned into a version of either. The "success" of both of those places is related to the almost year round good weather and years of "practice" with enforcement of the few laws they have.

People go to the Keys and New Orleans for a good time, the liquor laws and the hours the bars and clubs stay open are VERY relaxed. Having said that, they also have a massive police presence and a very low tolerance for unruly behavior. Don't believe they are tough on "bad behavior" this is the link to the last seven days arrests in Key West, and it's not even the busy season. :rolleye1:

http://www2.keysso.net/ArrestReports/ArrestLog1.htm

The economics of both Bourbon Street and Duval Street would never work without the almost year round customer base and an aggressive approach to unruly behavior. Transforming The Weirs for one week into a mini version of Key West North would simply not work.

JMHO