Racer, Sponsor, Dealer, AMA Hall of Famer and Industry Icon Norm McDonald died September 25th in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was 93 years old.

According to his son (and former AMA Champion Sam McDonald), Norm “died peacefully with his family surrounding him so that was a blessing…He wanted no formal funeral and no flowers please. He would prefer a donation to the Roadracing World Action Fund.”

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Read Norm McDonald’s AMA Hall of Fame biography here:

Hall of Famers – AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame

The CMRA Remembers Norm McDonald:

We lost a true motorsports icon with Norm McDonald passing earlier today. Norm was the “N” in K&N air filters, he was a racer, mechanic, team owner, inventor, entrepreneur, business owner, husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather. Anyone that knew him would agree that he was truly a force of nature! Norm served multiple terms on the CMRA Board of Directors and he also served as the CMRA’s Treasurer for many years. Our sincerest condolences go out to his wife Lucy and the entire McDonald family. 

Godspeed Norm……

Don Emde remembers Norm McDonald:

Norm McDonald 1932-2025. As he does too often these days, Father Time paid us a visit on Thursday to take another longtime friend of mine and many in the motorcycle sport and industry. Norm McDonald passed away at age 93.

My relationship with Norm (the “N” in K&N) and his business partner Ken Johnson (the “K”) began in 1969 on the first night of my professional racing career at Ascot Park. I didn’t really know anybody yet, but I was there with my father Floyd and the shiny new Suzuki X-6 flat tracker in a Sonic Weld frame that he built for me to race in the Novice class.

Norm and Ken were there with a Yamaha TD1-powered race bike and I’d say they were the pre-race favorite with #101R Freddie Edwards as their rider. Yamaha had the top Novice the year before with Keith Mashburn on the 101R Yamaha and it seemed K&N planned to continue that success.

We had a little surprise for them that night after getting through a couple of rounds of Heat races. I was finally getting the hang of riding that speedy X-6 with no brakes and was running third in the Main event behind Edwards and a rider named Rick Talbot on a Harley Sprint. They were having a good battle between themselves, but on the last lap they left me some room to get by as we went down the back stretch and I passed them both and went on take the opening night victory.

Norm congratulated me and Floyd after the race and now we had some new friends at Ascot. As it turned out, Freddie Edwards and I, and also John Hateley, would battle for Novice class wins every Friday night all that year with each of us winning about 1/3rd of the Novice Mains. In the final Ascot season points, Freddie edged me out and they did take top Ascot Novice points, just like Mashburn had done the year before.

The Emde and McDonald families became very close friends forever after and I always enjoyed seeing Norm and his dear wife Lucy, and their boys who were all racing or involved running the K&N dealership after they moved to Oklahoma.

In 2017, the Trailblazers honored Norm with an induction to our Hall of Fame. Here is a copy of the story we ran in the event program. As you will read, he had an amazing motorcycling life. Godspeed old friend.

2017 Trailblazers Hall of Fame Inductee
Norm McDonald

“Norm McDonald was born on October 20, 1932 in San Bernardino, California. Even as a youngster, Norm loved motorcycles and always wanted one, but his parent wouldn’t allow it. So Norm mowed lawns, sold scrap metal and saved his money. He had enough to buy his first motorcycle when he was 17, but kept it hidden at a friend’s house. Needless to say, Norm was hooked on motorcycles from then onward.

After graduating from high school, Norm served his country in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1955. When he returned, he married Louise (Lucy) West, and started racing motorcycles and raising a family. He earned a living for his growing family as a surveyor for San Bernardino County.

He began racing in 1956 at De Anza Raceway and was soon riding every event he could in southern California from Ascot to Perris and Acton to Bakersfield. He drag raced at Fontana Raceway and Road Raced at Riverside and Las Vegas. He rode TT’s and desert races as well as major off-road events like B-to-V, Big Bear, and the Tecate Enduro. He loved everything about the sport from racing to building the bikes.

In 1957 Norm met Ken Johnson and together they opened their first motorcycle shop, K&N Motorcycles in Loma Linda, California. The first K&N was primarily a service shop, with Ken working days and Norm (who kept his job as a surveyor during the day) working nights. “We opened with $200 and three used motorcycles,” Norm remembers. “We took on Indian, which was Royal Enfield at the time, and in 1958, we took on Yamaha.” K&N was only the fourth dealer in the USA to be signed as a Yamaha dealership and is now the longest running Yamaha franchise in the United States. Through the years Norm owned other franchises including BSA, CZ, Hodaka, Tohatsu, Marusho, Greeves, and Harley Davidson.

As shop owners, Ken and Norm also happened to give a job to a 17-year-old kid who would make a name for himself in motorcycling: Malcolm Smith. “I knew him since he was a kid,” Ken says. “We watched him ride in the fields, and were impressed, and when we opened up the shop, I asked if he wanted to work for me.” Malcolm was one of the first of hundreds of riders who would eventually be sponsored by K&N.

In 1965, Ken and Norm formed K&N Engineering, focusing on a line of handlebars, fenders and fork braces. The next year, the K&N Air Filter was introduced and within five years the revolutionary filters could be found in virtually every form of racing.

Norm loved to race and he also loved to help other racers. Besides his sons: Phil McDonald (1973 Daytona 100-mile Junior Champion and Top Junior in the nation); Sam McDonald (1982 250cc National Champion and 1984 second-place Superbike Championship); son-in-law, Ted Boody and grandson Tyler McDonald, Norm sponsored hundreds of others with more than 30 of them going on to compete on the national level. For decades, the sight of the K&N log on a racer’s leathers meant that rider was a contender and potential champion.

By 1971, Norm decided to relocate. Ken opted to keep K&N Engineering, and Norm kept the dealership side of things and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, opening up dealerships in Tulsa and Wichita, Kansas. ‘That was the best decision I ever made,’ Norm says. ‘I’ve always loved motorcycles and motorcycle people. I know the air cleaner thing is a multi-million business today, but if you’re not happy with what you’re doing, why do it? Motorcycling is not a get-rich thing, but it’s made a living for all our families and kept us together.’

Now in his 80’s, Norm is far from retired and stays active in the industry. Along with wife Lucy he started the Motorcyclists against Cancer (MAC) Rally which has raised over $300,000 for cancer research. He also runs an MSF certified training school, promotes local street rides as well as the Oklahoma Gold Rush, the state’s premier off-road racing event.

The Trailblazers proudly welcome Norm McDonald to the Hall of Fame.”