Wheels Through Time Closing/Moving

[Chris Haynes]

Dale has given up trying to work with the town and Chamber of Commerice in Maggie Valley. His museum will close in August. An auction of 150 motorcycles is planned. He is looking for a new location who will appreciate the business he will bring to their town.

[sonnys dad]

i am sorry to hear about this but am not surprised after what i have heard from dale. tell him we can find a home for him up here in snowy world famous lowell, ma ......i'll show him around and he can hang out with me.......if he likes the mountains there are plenty of them up in new hampshire

[Lonnie]

Though the Blue Ridge Mountains and Maggie Valley are certainly beautiful areas and see a good bit of tourist traffic in the spring, summer and fall, I often wondered why Dale didn't relocate to an area with better year-round tourist potential. An area such as Myrtle Beach would be perfect since it, like the Blue Ridge, sees a tremendous amount of motorcycle traffic, even in the winter months when it is relatively warm. In addition, SC has many tax incentives and local governments in SC have been quite positive in their dealings with businesses and anything that will attract tourist dollars.

[Bill Golightly]

moving the museum

Is the west coast a sure thing?

[portagepan]

Sorry, people, it's my fault. I finally started thinking about going there. And with my kind of luck, that just kills everything. As far as the West coast, don't they already have enough stuff? If the mayor, and city council don't give you a good enough deal to move here, in Ohio, Dale, don't worry. I'll just kill 'em all, and we will call this place Daleville, or something. I want tp put an old style diner out on the Golden Lilly curve, and I will have a BIG sign up for your spot. Oh darn, there I go dreamin' again.
Mike

[KNUCK]

Is the west coast a sure thing?

What do you know or what information have you heard about the west coast??

[Bill Golightly]

west coast

Someone on the Vintage Harley and Indian board posted last week that the west coast was to be the new home. I remember going to see Dale's stuff in '98 just outside of St. Louis, and the city was not very helpful there either.

I received an e-mall from Matt yesterday saying that they would be open only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday starting May 1st. The last day is August 31

[miker]

It sure be cool to have that in Lake County Fl...Year round riding on some nice roads...A short ride out from Dtona and Tampa for the modernists...Yup, that'd be cool. There are some nice old building around Eustis...

[exeric]

I don't even like moving a garbage can to the street on garbage night. I can't even imagine what it would take to move Dale's museum from N.C. to California. Is the cost of living that cheap in California ?

[darrylri]

I don't even like moving a garbage can to the street on garbage night. I can't even imagine what it would take to move Dale's museum from N.C. to California. Is the cost of living that cheap in California ?

BWHA-HA-HA-HA HA HA HA Ha ha ha!


Now I've got to go wipe up the coffee off my screen!

[Jerry Hatfield]

The Dallas/Ft.Worth area would be great. One of the nation's largest metropolitan areas. Mild climate. Low real estate prices. Low cost of living. Low unemployment.

[KNUCK]

I don't even like moving a garbage can to the street on garbage night. I can't even imagine what it would take to move Dale's museum from N.C. to California. Is the cost of living that cheap in California ?

NO, nothing is cheap here my friend. The thing is, there are lots of people and they would love to visit and support this type of thing. Tourism is big in California and I am sure it would be a huge attraction.

Another good place to have it would be Las Vegas, tons of tourists and no state income tax. Laughlin is not far and that motorcycle run there is gigantic every year.

Plus, the weather is great and low humidity (10-15%) would be easier on the museum pieces.

[jwl]

The news of the problems being encountered by The Wheels Through Time Museum is rather upsetting to me also. It is sad to hear that 150 bikes will be sold off. Chances are that they will be scattered out all over the world and never be available to the viewing public at one venue again. Whatever the owner decides to do is entirely up to him and none of our business whatsoever. I doubt if any of us knows the whole story behind this matter but I remember Dale telling me that one of the main reasons he left Mt. Vernon, Il. was the unwillingness of the community to lend the kind of support he wanted. Now it seems like he is having the same issues in Maggie Valley. I don't know what kind of support was offered at either one of these places and I don't know what kind of support Dale expected. Like I said before, I doubt if any of us knows the whole story. My point is merely that once this collection is broken up it will be a loss for all of us. I know that Dale has a ton of stuff and will still have a great collection without the 150 bikes he is reportedly considering selling. Nonetheless, 150 bikes will make a sizeable dent. For the interested viewing public's sake, I hope that the next move he makes works out because this will be a costly move to make and will be hard to recover from financially. If he needs financial support from the community he moves to I hope he gets everything in writing before the move is made and before he starts to sell off inventory. With the economy in the shape it is in right now it may be hard to muster up any sizeable long term support for a venture such as this. I sure hope it works out because if it doesn't it will be a great loss to all of us. About all I can do is wish Dale luck and thank him for trying to keep this great collection available to the public.

[bobdo]

I agree with JWL. Maggie Valley is far enough away from me to make visits difficult, the west coast move will make them improbable for me. My loss is others gain I guess. I've only been to Wheels Through Time once. I didn't know what to expect, when I stepped in my jaw dropped literally. I now know what the word "dumbfounded" means. I wish Dale the best, he's always been a class act. I have to wonder if the "Hollywood Bug" got hold of him after assisting with the Clooney film. Maybe he hopes to have a continued connection with movie making. Whatever the reason, I don't envy him making the move & its always sad to part with a bike, parting with 150 must REALLY S_ _K. I wish I could lend a hand, but my pickup already has 156000 miles on it.
Springs coming

[Barry Brown]

I heard he was trying to sell the whole shooting match to Barber and work there too? Doesn't sound too bad an idea although it makes me wonder if Barber is set up like Sammy Miller's museum in England as a "trust" so that when the owner passes on the show will go on. That said I suppose there are no guarantees of immortality for these museums unless they are nationalized. Our National Science museum in Canada has a few bikes and cars but being Government owned and run means nothing is done with the enthusiasm of the private sector.
This all brings out the dreaded thought that we really are a fringe bunch of nuts and not many communities really care about our treasures.
Dale is obviously an astute businessman and may just be thinking the bubble is about to burst with the coming recession and aging enthusiast demographic.