Every time I think about dirt bikes and when I was a kid thats about all I thought about. Mike Hartwig always crosses my mind.
The Husqvarna ad in the picture section is one that I have saved since 1973 and if Mike Hartwig happens to get to my website somehow, drop me an email Mike so I can send it to you!
Most who wander through my website, even the hardcore dirt biker have probably never heard of Mike. However in 1973-74 Mike let everyone know who he was.
If there was a real starting date for the term Michigan Mafia. Mike Hartwig was it.
When I first saw Mike at at the AMA Inter Am at Baldwin Kansas I was awe struck with his speed and riding ability.
Sure there was a slew of other fast guys at the time. Roger DeCoster, Joel Robert, Brad Lackey, Pierre Karsmakers, Jim Pomeroy all fast and all winners.
But Mike was this tall, skinny kid from Michigan and his performance at the Baldwin Kansas and Delta, Ohio Inter AM races opened my kid eyes! Mike let it be known that you did not have to come from California to do this. He did not just open the door for a lot of Michigan motocross racers, he kicked it down and then some.
To say that he put an ass whipping on everyone at those two events and many others would be an understatement. Mike left nothing on the table and he may well have been the predecessor to Bob Hannah in terms of sheer speed and want to WIN!
Mike was even enlisted to ride the famed Motocross des Nations in 1974 with Jim Pomeroy and John Desoto.
Yamaha eventually signed Mike up to run a factory bike. Sadly the bikes they supplied Mike with just weren't up to the task and Mike's career never came together dispite winning races when the bike stayed together.
Finally a back injury forced him to retire and that was the last I saw of my hero. He just packed up his gear and left.
And then in July 2006 my copy of Racer X showed up at the door and inside was an article on the Michigan Mafia along with an in depth article on Mike, his where abouts and what he was up to. Low and behold Mike was alive and kicking, actually living the good life in Northern Michigan.
God bless the guys at Racer X for giving me a chance to relive my youth and to take a moment to remember a time when riders raced not so much for money but for the love of the sport.
Credit for the article (in my picture section) to Racer X magazine as they have done a great job searching out and finding these giants from the past and if you want to find a racer from a by gone era I highly suggest you check out the Racer X website. Go to the RACERX "Where are they now page" and then subscribe to this awesome magazine!
You will not find any of the articles "Where are they now" that were printed in the magazine on the Racer X website. Thus you will not find the Mike Hartwig article there. You have to subscribe to get those!
