AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame announces Class of 2019

Five inductees will join the Hall on Dec. 6 in Columbus, Ohio

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame will welcome five new inductees during the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Dec. 6 at the Hilton Columbus Downtown in Columbus, Ohio.

The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2019 is rights advocate Mark Buckner, off-road racing champion Kurt Caselli, motocross champion Ron Lechien, trials pioneer Wiltz Wagner and museum founder Dale Walksler.

“The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2019 includes individuals who have impacted motorcycling in positive and powerful ways, as both advocates and sportsmen, leaving a lasting impression on the sport we all love,” said Ken Ford, a member of the AMA board of directors and chairman of the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation board. “Generations of motorcyclists owe them a debt of gratitude for their accomplishments. We’re honored to recognize them this Dec. 6 at the induction ceremony as the newest members of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.”

The induction ceremony is part of the 2019 AMA Legends & Champions Weekend, Dec. 6-7, which also includes the 2019 AMA Championship Banquet on Dec. 7 at the Hilton Columbus Downtown. In addition, the hotel will host AMA Congress on Dec. 6-7, where AMA Commission members will discuss rules governing AMA-sanctioned events.

Tickets for AMA Legends & Champions Weekend are available now at http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=vw9ldxbab&oeidk=a07egk6666t3e98bda6. Tickets also can be purchased over the phone at (800) 262-5646.

Reservations can be made at the Hilton Columbus Downtown at https://book.passkey.com/event/49921089/owner/9521521/home.

The formal installation of the Class of 2019 takes place at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame museum in Pickerington, Ohio, on Dec. 7. The installation will be preceded by a Hall of Famer luncheon that fans and supporters of the Hall of Fame are invited to attend for a $25 donation. Luncheon reservations are available through the AMA Legends & Champions ticket form.

The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame was established in 1998 by the AMHF to honor the legends and heroes of American motorcycling and highlight their achievements and contributions to motorcycling. Hall of Fame inductees represent eight areas: Ambassadors/Industry, Design/Engineering, Dirt Track, Leadership/Advocacy, Motocross/Supercross, Off-Road, Road Racing and Specialty Competition.

Hall of Fame candidates are nominated by the public for consideration for the annual ballot. Independent Hall of Fame nomination committees select nominees for the ballot, which is voted on by all living Hall of Famers, members of the AMA and AMHF boards of directors and AMA Life Members.

For more information about the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and the 2019 induction ceremony, see www.motorcyclemuseum.org. Also, visit the Hall of Fame Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AMAHallOfFame or search the hashtag #AMAHoF19 on social media.

AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2019

Mark Buckner

Mark Buckner began his leadership in motorcyclists’ rights advocacy in the late 1980s as the state coordinator for ABATE of Colorado. In 1992, Buckner joined the Motorcycle Riders Foundation board of directors, becoming MRF president and chairman two years later. During his tenure, the MRF implemented strategic planning processes which led to the organization’s financial stability and significant growth.

Buckner continues to have a profound influence in the motorcyclists’ rights community, giving seminars throughout the United States on strategic planning, organizational design and member effectiveness. Over the past 25 years, he has delivered more than 100 presentations around the country at state, regional, and national rights conferences.

In addition, Buckner has been a leader in promoting global harmonization of motorcyclists’ rights organizations in the United States and has fostered working relationships within the European motorcyclists’ rights community — bonds that remains strong to this day.

Kurt Caselli

Kurt Caselli, whose father Rich was an active member of AMA District 37’s Prospectors Motorcycle Club, started winning at an early age. In 1998, at age 15, Caselli won the desert championship in his class. In 2000, he won an amateur championship in three disciplines: enduro, desert and grand prix.

Caselli soon took his talents overseas, participating in the FIM International Six Days Enduro on the official U.S. team. He competed in the ISDE for 12 years. Eight times Caselli was the top-finishing American rider, and he won his class twice. Caselli was on the winning U.S. Junior Trophy Team in 2006, and he was on the U.S. World Trophy Team in 2013 when the team finished second, matching its best finish in the event at that time.

Riding for the factory-backed KTM team, Caselli committed full time to the AMA National Hare and Hound Championship Series in 2011 and won the title. In 2012, he successfully defended his title before repeating that performance in 2013.

Caselli’s focus then shifted to international rally racing. In 2013, he finished strong in Dakar and won the Desafio Ruta 40. His final race before making the full leap to rally racing would be the SCORE-promoted Baja 1000.

Tragically, Caselli died in that race, colliding with a large animal while competing and suffering fatal injuries.

While Caselli is remembered for his incredible skill and talent on an off-road motorcycle, his most lasting impact may be his role, inspired by his father, in fostering a deep sense of team, dedication and patriotism among U.S. riders competing at the ISDE. Those efforts paid off in 2016 when the U.S. World Trophy Team finally won the World Trophy, an achievement that had eluded American riders since the event began in 1913.

Ron Lechien

El Cajon, Calif., native Ron Lechien competed against some of the greatest motocross racers in history throughout the 1980s, winning 26 nationals and the 1985 125cc AMA National Motocross Championship.

Lechien’s natural talent and smooth riding style made him unmistakable on the track. His seemingly effortless speed translated across classes, and he earned wins in 125cc, 250cc and 500cc motocross competition, as well as in 250cc Supercross, the premier class at the time.

Lechien, born Dec. 13, 1966, won the 1985 125cc AMA Motocross Championship and was without question one of the era’s top riders. Lechien finished in the top three in national points 10 times out of the 18 series he contested full time. Lechien raced 158 races in his career and made the podium in 80 of them. Over half the time he raced, Lechien stood on the podium among some of the greatest American racers of all time.

In 1985, Lechien raced the 125cc class for the U.S. team at the Motocross of Nations in Germany and won his class with a 2-1-1 finish. At the 1988 Motocross of Nations in France, he raced the 500cc class and won both of his motos, beating the best in the world.

Lechien, who raced for the Kawasaki, Yamaha and Honda factory teams throughout his career, also competed in the 1984 and 1989 U.S. Motocross Grand Prix, collecting two wins.

While a severely broken leg in the 1989 500cc AMA National Championship Series ended Lechien’s career prematurely, he is remembered as one of the top riders from one of the most-competitive eras of the sport.

Wiltz Wagner

Wiltz Wagner Jr. has tirelessly promoted the sport of observed trials in this country the last four decades.

Wagner was first a fiercely competitive and successful trials rider in the 1960s and 1970s and then formed Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Trials Association, one of the oldest AMA-chartered trials clubs in America.

In the early seventies, Wagner saw a need for a national organization for trials competitions. Working with the AMA, Wagner created and oversaw the North American Trials Council. For the past 46 years, the NATC series, sanctioned by the AMA, has crowned the sport’s national champion.

In 1975, The Rhode Island Trials Club worked with Wagner and the NATC to host the first World Trials Championship in Rhode Island. Since then, the NATC has arranged dozens of international events.

Wagner, who was inducted into the NATC Hall of Fame in 2005 for his contributions to trials, has competed and won in other disciplines, including ice racing and land-speed racing, where he, his late wife and his daughter hold more than 50 records.

Dale Walksler

Dale Walksler, born Nov. 30, 1952, founded Dale’s Wheels Through Time Museum that preserves and communicates the history of motorcycling in America.

Beginning with his purchase of a Harley-Davidson Servi-Car when he was in high school, Walksler became a passionate fan of the brand. He opened a Harley-Davidson parts business in 1970 in Glen Ellyn, Ill., then bought a Harley-Davidson dealership in Mount Vernon, Ill., four years later. As his business grew, he moved his motorcycle collection to the dealership to attract customers.

In 1999, Walksler sold the dealership and relocated his motorcycle collection to Maggie Valley, N.C. The new museum opened in 2002. Dale’s Wheels through Time Museum sets itself apart from most other museums by featuring motorcycles in running condition.

The museum’s popularity has earned Walksler appearances on several television programs about vintage car and motorcycle restoration, including “American Restoration,” “Chasing Classic Cars,” “American Pickers” and his own show “What’s in the Barn?”

Those shows helped popularize vintage motorcycling, as well as put forward a positive image of the motorcycling lifestyle.