VOLUME 58 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 9, 2021 P27
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Passes
A
MA Life Member and AMA
Motorcycle Hall of Famer
Dale Walksler, founder of the
Dale's Wheels Through Time
Museum, died at home Feb. 3
after a long illness.
An entrepreneur as a teen-
ager, Walksler found his life's
passion in motorcycles. He
bought and sold Harley-David-
son parts during high school
before launching Dale's Hogs
motorcycle store in Illinois when
he was 18.
At 22, he became one of
the youngest Harley-Davidson
dealers in the country when he
opened a dealership in Mount
Vernon, Illinois.
As his business grew, Walk-
sler moved his motorcycle
collection to the dealership
to attract customers. In 1999,
Walksler sold the dealership and
relocated his motorcycle col-
lection to Maggie Valley, North
Carolina. The new museum
opened in 2002.
Although the Dale's Wheels
Through Time Museum is open
to the public only six months
each year, more than 100,000
visitors pass through its exhib-
its annually. From December
through April, the staff restores
bikes and arranges new exhibits.
The museum's popularity
earned Walksler appearances
on several television programs
about vintage car and motorcy-
cle restoration, including "Ameri-
can Restoration," "Chasing Clas-
sic Cars," "American Pickers"
and his own show "What's in the
Barn?"
Those shows helped popular-
ize vintage motorcycling, as well
as put forward a positive image
of the motorcycling lifestyle.
Walksler was inducted into the
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame
in 2019. His biography can be
found at motorcyclemuseum.
org. CN
AMA Life Member
and AMA Motorcycle
Hall of Famer Dale
Walksler passed
away following a long
illness. PHOTO: COURTESY
OF DALE'S WHEELS THROUGH
TIME MUSEUM
