Mert Lawwill, 1969 AMA Champion, Star of “On Any Sunday,” Has Died

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.

mertlawwill7 on Instagram

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.

Mert Lawwill, Malcolm Smith, filmmaker Bruce Brown, and owner of Troy Lee Designs Troy Lee attend the Troy Lee Designs Boutique and Design Center flagship store opening on November 3, 2011, in Laguna Beach, California.Allen Berezovsky - Getty Images

Bruce Brown Films

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.