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AGV Backmarker: Wheels Through Time
June 12, 2009 by Mark Gardiner
Filed under Backmarker
Dale Walksler in his workshop. He’s got more time to devote to his restoration work now that he’s closed Wheels Through Time. Mary Pinizzotto photo
Motorcyclists come from all over the U.S. to ride the Blue Ridge Mountains, on roads like the ones around Maggie Valley, North Carolina. You’d think it would be heaven for an avid rider like Dale Walksler, but instead, he’s mad as hell.
Walksler has been restoring bikes and building his collection since he was 15. He was an amateur racer, but right from the get-go his passion was in collecting. He became a successful Harley-Davidson dealer in southern Illinois in the ’90s. That was a boom time for the motor company, and Walksler decided to cash out and devote himself full-time to his collection. His shop wasn’t one of those mega-dealerships, but it was a seven-figure sale. Walksler still rolls his eyes at the thought of the stock market tanking in 2000, when the Internet bubble burst. That cut his take in half and served to remind him that buying old motorcycles wasn’t necessarily such a bad investment.
He set up a not-for-profit business, a museum he called Wheels Through Time, but even though his collection attracted lots of tourists, he wasn’t feeling any love from the town of Mount Vernon, Illinois. So he looked for a suitable alternative location, and thought he’d found it in Maggie Valley, in the midst of great riding country on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge.
Walksler bought a plot of land and built a 30,000-square-foot building. He installed his collection which, in about 250 bikes and twenty-six marques, covers almost all the highlights of America’s motorcycle-manufacturing history. He’s got an amazing array of one-off machines, including an Indian that Oscar Hedstrom built for himself just before he was forced out of his own company, the only Traub known to exist, and one of Evel’s jump bikes.
A minute after first meeting him, on the grounds of his Wheels Through Time museum on the outskirts of Maggie Valley, he kicked an old Harley flat-head sidecar rig to life. “I just got this rig; it was raced in the Jackpine Enduro in the ’50s,” he yelled while blipping the throttle. “Climb on!” He took off up a steep, rutted, narrow trail behind the museum building with me hanging onto the sidecar for dear life. I was acutely aware that neither of us was wearing a helmet. I resolved to jump as far as I could off it if I felt it start to go over. I hoped to avoid being crushed. Suffice to say I breathed a sigh of relief when it stalled and wouldn’t restart a few minutes up the hill. Mary Pinizzotto photo
The collection’s particularly strong in some uniquely American niches: board-track racers, Class-C dirt track racers, and factory hill-climbers including both the first and last factory-built Indian hill-climbers. Almost everything in the museum not only runs, but has gas and oil in it. As Walksler took me on a guided tour, he kick-started several of his bikes so I could hear them run. He definitely embraces the “ride ’em, don’t hide ’em” philosophy. One of the bikes he owns is a 1917 Henderson that Maldwyn Jones, a famous early racer, used to set a record between New York and Los Angeles. Well, eighty years later in 1997, Walksler rode that bike back across the country himself.
Despite that proselytizing nature, Walksler’s museum has been closed since the beginning of the year; there’s a padlock on the gate. The closure of the museum reflects the fact that he’s now having a feud with Maggie Valley.
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Mark,
What Dale says about Maggie Valley is true. I and several others in our BMW club have written the Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce on Dale’s behalf, and their attitude about motorcycles and Dale’s museum is very ambivalent. Hot rod cars are welcome, bikes are not.
I just don’t get their attitude about motorcyclists. If they would just look at how much impact the Honda Hoot had on Knoxville’s economy, you would think that they would see the light.
Four hundred thousand visitors buy a lot gas, food, motel rooms and touristy junk. It has to make a difference.
Phil Daulton
Seymour TN
Mark, I’m glad you wrote this article. I’m afraid it is too late to keep Dale in Maggie Valley, but I wish it could. I too particiapated in letter writing to the Maggie Vally Chamber of Commerce. Beyond a causual acknowledgement that my letter was received, that was it, nothing else ever said. It was about as condescending a response as I’ve ever received. I hadn’t been to Maggie Valley in years until Dale opened his museum. After that I made several trips over there. We usually made it apoint to eat while there, and possibly bought gas. Once Dale is gone, I’ll have no reason to go back. In fact, after the way they have treated him, and in fact, the motorcycling public along with Dale, I have no desire to ever spend another dime in their town.
Some are likely to say this lack of respect or “use” for motorcylists and their money can be laid at the feet of the so-called 1%-ers. You know, the loud pipe, burn-outs in the parking lot riders, and while Iw ill agree that doesn’t always help our plight I think the problem is much deeper rooted, because they are a small percent of the motorcycling “whole’. Much like Myrtle Beach has ercently done, they have decided the motorcycle $ isn’t worth their time and trouble. They don’t like us, so why invite us to come visit?
If that’s how they really feel, then let’em starve.
Tim Pruitt
Knoxville, TN
Dear Marc. I ran across you story today (8 13 09) and read it with great appreciation. Thank you!! To bring you up to date on wheels——-We have anounced SPECIAL OPENINGS here at the museum. Those dates are on our Wheels Through Time website. I would also like to mention our position/condition is actually more of a statewide issue. Unlike West Virginia, North Carolnia as a whole seem uninterested in the motorcyclist tourism dollars. We have met a stonewall at EVERY department in N.C. Government. It seems they are more interested in the Wine industry (newest iniatives in beer tasting) than the motorcycling industry. I think it would be approiate for enthusiasts to get involved in lobbying for this cause. You see this institution cannont reach its potential in such a negitive environment and will NOT continue to subsidize our local economy with motorcyclists hard earned dollars. I hope this finds you well and thank you for your kind words. Best Regards Dale Walksler——–one more thing —local and state MEDIA is usually willing to undermine our industry as well.