Totally unqualified to speak for Wald, but the main idea was that they're reluctant to sell stuff direct if it's the sort of thing where you need to kinda know what you're doing to install it, and if you mess it up, you'd get hurt. That's handlebars and headsets to a T, and really fenders too... because a fender that was installed improperly could jam the wheel and cause a crash. So, they used to have the website with almost everything (no headsets/BBs even a few years back, though) but only the baskets and racks with prices and the option to buy direct. apparently, this caused folks to email them constantly about "how can i order the xyz? The "buy it now" button is missing."
So, they dumped the dealer-only stuff from the site. But I still can't believe this was wisest. They only showed baskets and racks at the bike expo; I think a lot of bikenerds would be stoked with the bars at least...
Needless to say, I'm a massive Wald fan. When ppl replace stock bars on a cruiser with anything else, I feel sort of betrayed. I gotta say, though, that i am in the minority among most cruiser guys; I kinda like the bars low slung. Those who don't should get the dang # 511.