LACONIA, N.H. — The biggest motorcycle rally in the Northeast kicks off in New Hampshire in two weeks, and law enforcement officials and organizers say they do not believe this month’s deadly shootout between rival motorcycle gangs in Waco, Texas, will have repercussions in Laconia.

Laconia Motorcycle Week – which runs June 13-21 – left its violent days in the dust more than a decade ago and today draws hundreds of thousands of bikers and revelers to the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, providing a big boost to the local and state economy.

The Waco shootout on May 17 left nine bikers dead and about 170 more in custody. Five motorcycle gangs were present, including the Cossacks and the Bandidos.

Laconia Police Chief Chris Adams said the law enforcement agencies involved in the Laconia rally will meet privately this week to review Waco and recent intelligence obtained on various motorcycle gangs. He anticipates no spillover from Waco.

“I’ve been in Laconia 21 years, and I’ve never seen Bandidos up here,” he said. “They don’t get along with the Hells Angels.”

Adams said law enforcement officials and the Hells Angels, who have a clubhouse in Laconia and are the dominant motorcycle club in the Northeast, have a “working relationship.”

“We keep the lines of communication open,” Adams said. “If we have an issue, we reach out to them and vice versa.”

Retired New Hampshire State Police Lt. Terrance Kinneen, an expert on motorcycle gangs, worked motorcycle week during its more violent era. The current version is tame by comparison, he said.

“It’s become a nonevent,” Kinneen said.

Laconia Motorcycle Week was scaled back from a weeklong event to a weekend rally after a riot in 1965 that prompted officials to call in the National Guard and police in tactical gear. Bikers flipped and torched a car, sparking the riot, and photos of the ensuing melee blared from front pages.

Kinneen said the last real trouble was in 1998, when Hells Angels pepper-sprayed a young police officer and, as Kinneen recalled, “it all went downhill from there.” Four officers were injured, and dozens of bikers were arrested.

Adams said motorcycle week has been “relatively quiet” since and arrests have dropped dramatically to fewer than 100 last year.

“It’s tamed down a lot,” he said. “People know what the culture is – what’s tolerated and what’s not.”

Charlie St. Clair – full-time organizer of Laconia Motorcycle Week since 1992 – understands that problems can happen anywhere but described a different kind of vibe here. St. Clair said Laconia is among the “big three national” motorcycle gatherings, alongside Florida’s Daytona Bike Week and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.

“Laconia is a big motorcycle celebration,” he said. “We get a lot of people here and, as with any large crowds, you get all sorts of people. For the most part, it’s a very festive gathering.”

St. Clair said peak attendance was about 430,000 in 2004; about 320,000 bikers and others cycled through last year’s motorcycle week.