Meeting a Norton Legend

The last day of a motorcycle rally has some of the more important events attached to it.  This rally was no different with the Concours scheduled for the afternoon and the awards banquet slated for the evening.  In between people find enough to do to fill the time and that includes firing up their Nortons if the bikes aren't entered in the Concours which is an event where owners display their bikes in various categories.  These range from 'Rat Bike', to 'Remanufactured', to stock motorcycles, to 'Other British', and 'Low Production', to name but a few.

When Jim came back from his morning ablutions (his fancy word for a shower, shave, and brushing his teeth),  he mentioned that he had seen a Norton with chrome decals, a most unusual sight.  Since the campsite was about three sites away from ours, I decided to investigate and took my camera to document this unusual sight.

Upon arriving at the campsite I asked the gentleman there if he minded me taking some photos of his motorcycle.  He said there was no problem so I snapped several photos as I began a conversation with the man.  He began to tell me about the modifications he had made to this Norton which was owned by another person but was being refurbished by the guy in the campsite.

Chrome Norton decal

Chrome side panel chrome decal

1970? Norton 'S' Model

Doug's two Nortons. Tank and seat are interchangeable

Doug McAdam & his 'S' Model Norton

Engine detail. Note the 'frosted cylinder barrels.

Doug's Norton number 10

Bead blasted 'Z' plate.



He pointed out the things he had improved in the engine rebuild, how he had had the frame powder coated, and he pointed out the ceramic, I believe, finish on the primary and timing cases.  Altogether, this was turning out to be a really good looking Norton. 

Ceramic primary cover finish

Ceramic timing and gearbox cover

I found that talking to this guy was really fascinating and the conversation lasted for more than half an hour.  Actually, I mainly listened and added a question here and there because he seemed to enjoy talking about his work and I found that I was learning a great deal from listening.

What I didn't understand until part way through the conversation, was that this man whose name is Doug MAdam, is a legend in the Norton Owners community.   Despite the fact that the website doesn't mention it anywhere, according to Doug, he established Colorado Norton Works, which is probably the best known company that specializes in rebuilding and upgrading Norton Commandos.  He rebuilt the first thirty-two bikes before selling the company to its present owner Matt Rambow.  Anyone who rides Nortons knows about Colorado Norton Works.  And I was talking to the guy who started the company.

After selling CNW Doug went off the grid, keeping a property in Dolores, CO, but moving to the southern Baja in Mexico where he has a small shop and rebuilds Nortons to customer specifications.  Although he does have a website: www.dougsbajanortons he is almost entirely off the grid.  He spends part of his summers in Colorado and most of the rest of the time he spends in Mexico.

Strangely enough, the guy who had the campsite directly across the road from us, Clint Campbell has a 1968 Norton Fastback that was rebuilt by Doug.  The bike is beautiful and has won Best of Category, and Judges' Choice awards in previous Concours events.

Clint Campbell's 1968 Norton Commando Fastback (centre)

Limited Production category. Clint's bike is second from the left

Jim and I went to the lodge area to check things out.  People were setting up their bikes at the Concours so we decided to ride out to the junction of Hyatt Lake Road and Highway 66 for lunch at the restaurant there.  It isn't a long ride but the road is a fun ride on a motorcycle and the food was decent, especially the blueberry pie.  Jim missed the entrance to the resort on the way back and we continued on another four miles before turning around at Dead Indian Memorial Road and returning to the rally site.

By this time the bikes were lined up in their separate categories and anyone who wished could walk around, check them out, then vote for their favourite in each category.  There were some pretty outstanding examples of Nortonhood on display, with the oldest dating back to the early 1950s.  In the 'Other British' category John Thompson from Manitoba had his 1936 AJS on display.  Clint's Fastback was the class of his category hands down.

Norton Interstate

Norton Commando Roadster with incredible paint job.

1972 Norton Commando Combat Roadster.  Owner in leather jacket.

1950s Norton ES2 models

Early 1950s model Norton

Category sign

Rat bikes. Jerry Kaplan's 1950 ES2 in the foreground

1950s Norton

Early '60s Norton Dominator

Engine detail

1950s Norton ES2s

Norton Commando Interstate.  It has a larger fuel tank.

1950s Norton. A good looking motorcycle

The plate says it all.

Norton racing motorcycles

Best of Category Norton racer

Doug's Norton Commando

Two 1974 Norton Commando 850 Interstates

Chromed metal tank emblem

Chromed metal side panel emblem

Beautiful café racer

Café racer.  Red & gold is a good combination

BSA Lightning or Thunderbolt in the parking lot. Beautiful!

More Concours motorcycles

Norton Race Team replica (yellow)

Norton 400 cc. Electra ca. 1966

Norton race motorcycle

  Norton 400cc. Electra ca. 1966

BSA visitor

Side view of the BSA

This guy needs a reminder of the shift pattern when he rides his Norton.

The swap meet scheduled for the afternoon was pretty much a bust.  If people were selling stuff, they were doing it in their campsites because there wasn't much available at the big tent. 

When Jim returned he mentioned that he had met a guy who owned eight Nortons.  This guy has a serious Norton problem.  Jim, who owns two Commandos, a Triumph Triple and a BSA Lightning or Thunderbolt, I'm not sure which, probably come pretty close when you add the four Harleys that he has in addition.  A case of the pot calling the kettle black, I suppose.

After returning to out campsite we fed the chipmunks some peanuts, probably not the best thing but it was quite amusing when out little friend of the past two days was joined by another opportunistic rodent.  Whenever the newcomer came too close the original visitor would chase him for quite a distance before returning.  This guy even figured out that the peanuts were in a plastic container and was trying to figure out how to get to the mother lode.  When we returned from the banquet later that evening we found that he had gnawed his way around the lid of the plastic jar and had actually punctured it.  If he had stayed at it for a while longer he probably could have broken in and robbed us of the rest of the peanuts.  No wonder he worked so hard though, because they were Planter's Peanuts.

At the banquet we were seated with a couple from Texas, as well as Doug and Clint.  The guy wasn't originally from Texas and they had just moved to Colorado.  His main observation about Texans is that they have the highest obesity rate in the US and their education system is among the worst.  "Texans are fat and stupid," was his comment.  When I look at their governor and some of their Representatives I can agree with the second of those.

INOA Banner

All things British!

Clint in the foreground with the guy from Texas

Clint Campbell & Doug McAdam



The main event of the banquet was the awards for the Concours.  Clint won two awards, Best of Category, and Judges' Choice, while Doug's bike which was owned by another person won the award for 'Best Remanufactured' Norton.  In addition our table won three of the draw prizes, mine being a filter adaptor kit from Colorado Norton Works, while Clint won a four pack of craft beer which he figured could be a problem when he tried to cross the border back into Canada.

Clint with his Best of Category Award

Clint with 'Best of Category & Judges' Choice Awards.  Doug with 'Best Remanufactured' Award

During the dinner and awards parts of the evening Doug spent a bit of time talking about his life and on his philosophy.  He believes that while we are here we should try to make others happy.  I'd say the happiness that those who own his bikes are good evidence that he has been successful.

After the banquet we returned to the campsite only to find our peanut jar's plastic lid gnawed almost through by our little friend.  Since it was so late we postponed loading the Nortons until Saturday morning. 

All things considered this was a great rally.  We met lots of new people, some of whom were fascinating, saw a large number of Norton motorcycles (more than I've ever seen in one place previously), enjoyed three days of the sounds of Norton, and did some riding in the mountains around the resort.  Both of are really pleased that we made the decision to come here.  And the best thing of all is that we're still talking to each other!

On Saturday we began the trip back home.