Mert Lawwill, 1969 AMA Grand National champion and star of the classic Bruce Brown motorcycle documentary On Any Sunday, passed away last week at 85.
Lawwill was already an accomplished racer on dirt tracks across America when filmmaker Bruce Brown asked him to star in what would become the iconic motorcycle movie, On Any Sunday. He took the role, riding with Steve McQueen and fellow motorcycle great Malcolm Smith. The movie changed public perception about motorcycles and those who rode them, going from the criminal elements of The Wild One to the more wholesome and serious riders like Lawwill.
The son of a housepainter and a schoolteacher, Lawwill was one of seven children, his son, Joe Lawwill, wrote in a press release quoted in his hometown paper, The Idaho Statesman. A restless youth, Lawwill found his outlet when his brother Roy put him on the back of a motorcycle. Despite apprehension from his parents, who thought all motorcyclists were Hell’s Angels, Lawwill began racing at the local TT track in Boise before expanding his racing efforts throughout the Northwest region, including in cross country events called hare scrambles.
His success caught the attention of famed Harley-Davidson dealer Dudley Perkins, and Lawwill moved to California to begin his professional racing career in 1963, ultimately signing a factory contract with Harley in 1964. He would remain with the motorcycle manufacturer for the rest of his racing career.
Lawwill earned his first AMA Grand National victory at the Sacramento Mile in 1965, AMA noted, after registering a collection of podium finishes across his first two seasons of professional competition.
Four years later, Lawwill raced his way to the 1969 AMA Grand National championship and was voted AMA “Most Popular Rider of the Year” for his efforts that season.
Two years after his championship-winning season, Lawwill appeared in Bruce Brown’s legendary moto-documentary On Any Sunday, where his AMA Grand National title defense during the 1970 campaign was put on display for a national audience.
Over his racing career he broke his right collarbone, left shoulder, left wrist, left hand, and sprained and otherwise twisted his left foot, the one that went down on the track as he slid sideways at 120 mph, 30 times. Among other injuries.
In 1977, an inner-ear disorder that affected his balance caused Lawwill to retire from racing. Across his iconic racing career, he captured 15 AMA Grand National victories and amassed 161 AMA Grand National finishes. In this time, Lawwill completed the prestigious dirt track grand slam, winning at least one race in all four disciplines of dirt track racing—including the Mile, TT, Half-Mile, and Short Track.
Following his racing career, Lawwill shifted his attention to designing and building frames for motorcycle race bikes. In 1997, he was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, largely thanks to his work with Yeti Cycles. During this time, Lawwill also began production on his famed Mert Lawwill Street Tracker motorcycles, which were street-legal versions of the factory Harley-Davidson XR-750 flat track racers that he excelled on.
Inspired by his former teammate Chris Draayer, who lost his arm in a racing accident, Lawwill also used his engineering talents on the production of human prosthetics, developing a system that would help amputees ride motorcycles and bicycles again. Dubbed “Mert’s Hands,” this device was built around a ball-and-socket attachment that snapped onto the rider’s handlebar to allow them to steer easily.
For all his contributions to the motorcycling community, Lawwill was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2012, Lawwill was granted AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend status, which is reserved for those whose accomplishments transcend their induction category in impactful ways throughout the motorcycle community.
He appeared at many motorcycle events later in life, including at The Quail, A Motorcycle Gathering where in 2015 he was a featured “Legend of the Sport” and in 2019, where he participated in a panel discussion with Malcolm Smith. He also served on the judging committee in 2012 and 2013.
Mert Lawwill was preceded in death by his wife, June Lawwill. He is survived by his son, Joe Lawwill; his daughter, Marcella Lawwill; his stepsons, Rick, Mike and Tim Suchomel; three grandchildren; and extended family and friends, according to Cloverdale Funeral Home in Boise.
A celebration of life will be held later this summer in Southern California, near historic Ascot Raceway, which had such an impact on Mert in his early racing days, according to the Instagram site mertlawwill7.
