Dust off your motorcycles.

On Thursday, Yukon Harley-Davidson announced the first Ride Yukon event, which will take place June 23-26, 2005 in the territory.

While there was a motorcycle rally in the Yukon in 1993, it was a hog rally, which means Harley owners' group only. This rally will be open to all riders.

'This rally is an open rally,' Dick Watts, the principal owner of Yukon Harley-Davidson, said in an interview this morning. 'We anticipate the majority will be Harley riders, but it is open to all motorcycles.'

Watts has been riding Harleys for about 20 years. After seeing the success of similar events in other areas of North America and the general success of motorcycles, he said, he and co-owners Albert Rock and Blayne Epp decided to organize an event for the Yukon.

'We realized the North is a huge draw for a lot of people,' he said.

'The Yukon is the last unexplored frontier on motorcycles, us and Alaska. And the roads have improved enough as well. Most of us are reluctant to take our bikes on a gravel road.'

Watts also estimated a huge economic potential for the Yukon. He believes the event may bring the territory between $500,000 and $700,000 in the first year alone.

Harley-Davidson has formed a partnership with Higher Ground Destination Management, to help deal with marketing, accommodations, event packaging and food and beverage needs, as well as entertainment.

'People now riding are generally 40-45 years old and above,' said Watts. 'They're generally retired or semi-retired business people who have done well. It's a fairly affluent group, so it could be very beneficial to the community.'

More than 500 motorcycles and about 600 participants are expected to take part in the first event.

The entire Yukon will be featured with events being focused on in Carcross, Whitehorse and Braeburn.

Pre- and post-journeys are also being created to showcase areas such as Dawson City and the Klondike region, North Alaska Highway and southern Yukon including Watson Lake. That way, the communities can benefit from the rally as well.

'It's getting bigger,' said Watts when asked about the motorcycle market in the Yukon.

'I can tell by the number of people we see on Harleys coming through town for service, either heading to Alaska or back down south. We get them from all over the U.S. and Canada.'

In fact, Watt said, the hardest thing about the planning process for the rally is trying to anticipate the number of people.

'Our biggest concern is how many people Whitehorse can handle,' said Watts. 'We're putting a limit on registration, somewhere between 500 and 800 people. We want to do this right.

'We'd like to make this a yearly event if possible.'

The organizers would also like to tie the rally in with a fairly major concert event, which would be open to all Yukoners as well, not just those in the rally.

'We'll be taking informal polls over the next couple of months, to find out what kind of entertainer would be appreciated,' said Watts.

'We can't afford to lose on this one.'

Watts suggested the entertainer will probably be country-western. He said organizers already have a few ideas, but they don't want to let the cat out of the bag in case it falls through.

Organizers are actually looking for space for an outdoor concert. The space would need to handle between 3,000 and 5,000 people, and it must be easy to police and easy to get to, Watts said.

He invites anyone who may have any ideas or would like to help out with the event to contact either himself, Rock or Epp. Posters will be available to put up around Whitehorse in the next week, with additional contact information.

'I went to a Harley owners' group rally last year in Fairbanks,' said Watts, encouraging people to get involved.

'There were about 300 to 500 bikes for that rally. We're hoping for more because ours is open to everyone.'