By JOHN KOZIOL

Staff Writer

LACONIA — Bike Week’s newest venue features an eclectic set of vendors, a variety of interesting products and services, food and drink, and plenty of room to move around in, but what it lacks is visitors.

"Folks don’t know we’re here, said Cynthia Makris, whose family owns and operates the Naswa Resort on Weirs Boulevard.

Located about a quarter mile south of the Weirs Channel Bridge, "Cabana Alley" which is in a parking lot across the street from the Naswa on the east side of Weirs Boulevard, is slightly removed from Bike Week’s "Ground Zero" at the intersection of Route 3 and Lakeside Avenue, but it’s well worth the walk, said Makris.

"Cabana Alley" represents the Naswa’s first foray into Bike Week vending.

In 2002, the resort obtained permission from the city of Laconia to have vendors, but chose not to since it could not line up the high-end retailers and exhibitors it wanted in time for the rally.

During the municipal approval process last year, the Laconia Motorcycle Technical Review Committee cited potential pedestrian safety risks — the Naswa is located on a busy stretch of Route 3 that does not have sidewalks — in denying the Naswa’s application, but the city’s Licensing Board overturned the decision.

In 2003, the same pedestrian safety concerns were raised, but the MTRC ultimately did approve the Naswa’s Bike Week site plan under which the Naswa agreed to install, as it said it would do last year, a roped-off walkway for pedestrians along the east side of Weirs Boulevard.

Although its site plan for Bike Week 2003 was approved by the city, the New Hampshire Liquor Commission said "no" to the Naswa’s request to extend its liquor license to include beverage service in Cabana Alley, because the area was not contiguous to the main inn. The Naswa then sought and obtained a license from the commission to operate a "beer festival" tent.

Looking out on Cabana Alley on Friday, Makris said it was hard to fathom what all the hub-bub was about. Cabana Alley is a safe, secure, attractive place for Bike Week visitors to go, she said, but so far, not as many as she would have hoped have.

Cabana Alley features the 40-seat Kool Cafe where patrons can enjoy espresso, cappuccino and smoothies while watching the world go by as well as the "Cabana Bar" where up to 520 people can come in to sample their favorite libation and listen to live bands.

Vendors at Cabana Alley include one well known local business as well as some with a more national, if not international reputation.

Peter Karagianis Jr., whose family owns Happy Jack’s Cigar, Pipe and Tobacco Shop in Laconia, said it was time to bring the business’s offerings to The Weirs during Bike Week, rather than just simply rely on having visitors come to their Church Street store.

"We had a pretty fast night last night (Thursday), said Karagianis, "they want a cigar to walk around with." Karagianis added that his top seller was a Punch Corojo cigar that sells for $3.25.

At about 1,000 times that price — although models begin at $2,500 — a person can buy a Micro Touch massage chair which are touted as "the most advanced chairs on the market."

The chairs, said Renae Davidson, who is the national sales rep for the Phoenix, Ariz., manufacturer, have been very well received and "a lot" have been sold during Bike Week.

The buttery soft chairs give a head-to toe massage of varying intensities that has perspective buyers purring with delight, said Davidson.

"They’re amazed that a chair does all of this," she said. "It never talks back and it never gets tired."

"If you have everything, this is what you don’t have" but should, Davidson said of the Micro Touch.

Next to the Micro Touch tent, Frogg Toggs sells outerwear that is waterproof, windproof, breathable, and at $60 a set for a top and pants, affordable, said Mike Wilson, who represents the company at Bike Week.

Wilson is also selling a DEET-free insect repellent whose active ingredient is geranium oil.

Frogg Togg’s neatest display may be a fishbowl covered with the three-layer, micro-pore fabric from which the outerwear is made.

Wilson encourages visitors to reach into the fishbowl, which is filled with water, to test the efficacy of the Frogg Togg’s water resistance. The inside of the fabric is bone dry even though it has been soaking in the fishbowl since last Thursday, said Wilson.

One tent over, designer and would-be "fashion mogul" Carrie Daway of Malibu, Calif., is offering clothing of a decidedly different nature.

Having outfitted a number of celebrities, including Cameron Diaz, Pamela Anderson, Shirley Maclaine and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Daway wants to bring a bright splash of color to Bike Week.

Some of her clothing, all of which is hand-painted, is studded with Swarovski crystals that at night "shine better than chrome," she said.

"The biker world needs some color," said Daway. "They’re rebels and they all wear the same thing."

Also colorful, is Ryan Newman’s Mobil 1 race car.

Mobil 1 is displaying the car and a custom motorcycle at Cabana Alley as well as offering visitors the chance to get behind the wheel — in a simulator — of an actual Nascar race car.

Makris is very proud of the vendors the Naswa has brought to Cabana Alley.

"It’s a great little venue, we just need people," she said.