LEWISTON – Amid a crowd of 5,000 leather-clad folks, Bobby Mahar sat silently on a bench outside L/A Harley-Davidson and smiled.

Others listened to classic rock songs performed on a stage beside the Main Street store. Or they watched Cody Ives, a 14-year-old motorcyclist who spun inside his metal “Globe of Death.”

“I’m here to buy a bike,” Mahar said. The South Portland-based Marine recruiter had company, too.

Inside the store, a steady line of people talked with sales reps about the motorcycles. By the end of the day, the company expected to sell about 20 of the elite machines, co-owner John Story said.

The recruiter bought a brand new 2007 model. It’s price: $17,000.

“I’m getting older,” said Maher, brushing his balding head. For years, he’d been a speed-chaser, riding Japanese racing cycles. “It’s time to slow down and buy a Harley-Davidson.”

Every imaginable accessory seemed on display, too. There were T-shirts, vests and chaps, saddle bags and shot glasses, and a man selling specially designed wallets.

Rather than fitting into back pockets and attached with a chain, these wallets were designed with a curve that fits the front pocket.

Standish designer Michael Lyons calls it the “Rogue Wallet.”

Business at all the booths seemed brisk.

“We sold more than we expected,” said Joseph Armstrong, president of Maine Chapter 2 of Rolling Thunder, an organization largely consisting of motorcyclist enthusiasts who champion MIA and POW veterans issues.

He declined to say how many patches and pins he sold, mostly commemorating military service overseas.

“We did well,” he said. “It should help a lot of veterans’ families.”

Other groups raised money for muscular dystrophy and Little League teams.

“Bikers are caring people,” Armstrong said. “They get along. And they share an equal love of the motorcycles.”

The event marked the first anniversary of the dealership’s opening under Story and his partners.

A similar event last May drew about 3,000 people.

People began arriving before 8 a.m. Saturday.

By 8:30 a.m., Cathy Brousseau was hemming new chaps and stitching patches onto jackets and vests.

Except for a five-minute break, the owner of Industrial Stitching and Leather Repair was sewing all day, sitting at a machine just inside the motorcycle showroom.

L/A Harley Davidson is planning more events for this June, September and November, Story said.