Motorcycling lost one of its greats on September 25 in the form of AMA Hall of Famer Norm McDonald. It's almost cliché, but it's harder to say what Norm did in the world of motorcycling compared to what he didn't do, because he did it all. He was a racer, dealer, sponsor, inventor, co-founder of K&N Motorcycles, ambassador for motorcycling in the US, and laid the two-wheeled infrastructure for the generations that would come after him.
McDonald was born on October 20, 1932, in San Bernardino, California, and like most of you reading this, he had an obsession with motorcycles from a young age. And I suspect, also like plenty of you reading this, after buying his first motorcycle at 17 years old, the first thing he did was to hide it from his parents.
That's where a lot of the similarities between us and McDonald end, because when he returned from a stint in the Navy in 1955, he went all-in on motorcycling.
In 1957, McDonald and fellow AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer, Ken Johnson, opened K&N Motorcycles in California, but it would be eight more years before McDonald and Johnson would open K&N Engineering. It was at K&N Engineering where McDonald would go on to develop one of the staples of aftermarket accessories: the K&N Air Filter. The K&N Air Filter went on to be used in most forms of motorcycle racing—something that McDonald was no stranger to.
McDonald competed in road racing, TT, desert enduro, and even drag racing. But he furthered many more careers than his own through sponsorship, including his sons', Phil and Sam McDonald. Phis went on to become a Daytona junior champion, and Sam was a 250cc national champion. As much as racing and sponsoring the next generation of talent is glamorous, it's something unglamorous and arguably unexciting that we should equally as much respect to McDonald for: dealership infrastructure.
In 1971, McDonald relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma and split the K&N business with Jonshon, so he could focus on growing the dealership side of the business. He eventually went on to open multiple dealerships in Kansas.
If I were to list out all of McDonald's achievements in his 93 years here, I'd never stop writing, so I'll finish with the one I hold in the highest esteem. Together with his wife Lucy, McDonald launched the Motorcyclists Against Cancer (MAC) Rally. Today, that event has raised more than $300,000 for cancer research. From all of us here at RideApart, we extend our deepest sympathies to McDonald's family and friends.
