We Say Good Bye photos courtesy of: Dale’s Wheels Through Time Museum
Dale Walksler Dale Walksler, founder and curator of Dale’s Wheels Through Time Museum, passed away peacefully, with his wife by his side, at home on February 3, 2021, after a courageous four year battle with cancer. An entrepreneur as a teenager, Dale Walksler found his life’s passion in motorcycles. In 1967 at the age of 15, Dale built his first motorcycle, sparking a life-long love affair with American Motorcycles and their history. At the age of 18 he bought and sold Harley-Davidson parts during high school before launching Dale’s Hogs motorcycle store in Illinois. At 22, Dale established a Harley-Davidson Franchise in Mt. Vernon, Ill: Dale’s HarleyDavidson. His signal success as a dealer grew to include the decades-long work that would define his life: the creation of the museum we now know as Wheels Through Time.. In 2002 Dale opened the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley, NC. From humble beginnings in a small Illinois town, one of the world’s premier collections of rare and vintage American motorcycles, automobiles, and memorabilia emerged. Wheels Through Time became an Iconic American Institution and known internationally.
Dale was always looking for the next big challenge, and in 1997 he took Maldwyn Jones’ 1917 Henderson, which Jones used in a 24-hour endurance run, and broke the cross country record set by Alan Bedell in 1917. The journey took Dale from LA to New York in 6 days and 6 hours. His spirit of adventure will always live on.
Dale’s vision was not just one of preserving the past but was also focused on the future. In that regard, he made great strides to ensure that the museum and his legacy would carry on for generations to come. Although the Dale’s Wheels Through Time Museum is open to the public only six months each year, more than 100,00 visitors pass through its exhibits annually. From December through April, the staff restores bikes and arranges new exhibits. Dale was a man of vision, zeal, intensity, imagination, and generosity. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and the staff at Wheels Through Time, and as well as by the countless tens of thousands who have visited the museum.
From the ground up - Throughout his life, Dale has built everything the same way, from the ground up with skill and precision. Throughout the museum, in every bike and even through those who have met Dale, the passion, care, and attention for detail is evident. His vision will continue to move forward, always as Dale said, “exceeding expectation.”
Left: When it came to vintage motorcycles, Dale helped redefined the meaning of preservation. He had a natural ability to recognize a “diamond in the rough” and spent a lifetime chasing and acquiring America’s most historic and original machines. This mission led him to found Wheels Through Time in 1993. Over the next several decades, Dale assembled what many consider to be the best collection of rare American motorcycles in the world.
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