Posts
9270
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Mesa, AZ, USA
Edited Date/Time
8/20/2026 10:04pm
One of the all time greats. He was a pioneer who helped put dirt biking on the map in the So Cal Desert by dominating the early years.
RIP
https://youtu.be/Z9zUzJ9kWzM?is=uA3iYabNR4r4Tlzd
RIP. He ruled the Dez. Thanks for posting.
I find that one of the hard things about getting old is seeing people who influenced you in some way pass on. I'm in my early 50s and still trying to wrap my head around Super Hunky and Malcolm Smith being gone. JN Roberts was a bit before my time but I'm still bummed to hear this. Godspeed JN.
Legend
I got into bikes as a kid about the time he had reached his peak and never did actually know what his first name really was for quite some time. RIP JN.
"James Nelson "J. N." Roberts is an American former professional off-road and enduro motorcycle racer and a film industry stuntman. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he was a dominant motorcycle competitor in American desert racing centered in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. At one point in his desert racing career, Roberts won 27 consecutive desert races, earning him the unofficial nickname of King of the Desert. Roberts was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and, into the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009."
https://alchetron.com/JN-Roberts
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Another of my childhood heroes! Growing up in the Southeast I had no concept of desert racing but I knew about JN and how dominant he was at the time desert racing was at it's peak.
I rode his mx track in Montana about 20 years ago. He didnt ride that day unfortunately, but it was still awesome! I only spent an afternoon at his house, but what a great guy!
RIP in Peace JN
Dramatically underappreciated early pillar of our sport. A lot of moto fans think the sport started here with the Trans AM in '70, but the reality is bad ass dudes were ripping on dirt bikes as far back as the 50's in SoCal, they just called it scrambles, and desert racing was the most popular format. The actual roots of our sport is District 37 desert/scrambles racing. JN was one of the first guys to treat the sport with professionalism. He looked for advantages in his equipment, one of the first to ride Huskys. He looked for advantages in his body- one of the first guys to really train for racing. He looked for advantages in the pits- member of the perennial top desert club Checkers MC. He looked for ways to stay safe so he could survive crashes and keep racing- adapted football equipment for protection. Before there was Marty, and Hannah, there was JN dominating what was then the highest profile dirtbike racing in the country. His contributions to the sport shouldn't be overlooked. We've lost an absolute LEGEND in our sport. Roost In Peace Mr. Roberts.
Outstanding tribute sir. I ran a the football faceguard with electrical tape too in my short desert race era.
I remember in the early 70's he was in every cycle news I read.
JN was great in Dust to Glory.
I got to meet JN Roberts one time but I did not know it.
I was working at Kalispell Cycle, (Kalispell Montana), in the summer of 1979 and this guy comes into the shop wearing a hat covered in desert racing finisher pins. He had been BS'ing with Russ the manager of the shop for a while when I joined the conversation. After the guy left my boss says, "You know who that was don't you?". My answer was "No". "That was JN Roberts" my boss tells me. I guess he was living in Big Fork Montana at that time. He would have been 36 or 37 at the time.
Rest in Peace JN.
A whole lot of history there...😢 See ya buddy.
Stunts Unlimited mourns the loss of one of our own, J.N. Roberts—a true legend of desert racing, off-road motorcycling, and Hollywood stunt work.
J.N. was one of the greats. He won 27 consecutive desert races, took the Barstow-to-Vegas four times in a row, and won both the Baja 1000 and Baja 500 twice. He was also a pioneer in the development of protective equipment for off-road racing. His extraordinary talent, innovation, and fearless riding established him as a legend long before his career in Hollywood.
Fellow motorcyclist, future film director, and Stunts Unlimited co-founder Hal Needham introduced J.N. to the exclusive Viewfinders motorcycle club, a group of stuntmen and Hollywood actors who shared a passion for desert racing. Among its members were Ronnie Rondell and Glenn Wilder, also co-founders of Stunts Unlimited, and legendary actor Steve McQueen.
After Needham established himself as a successful director, he helped J.N. launch his career as a stuntman. J.N. quickly proved himself on both two and four wheels, performing memorable motorcycle and car stunts for film and television and doubling for stars including Charles Bronson and Paul Newman.
J.N. also helped push the sport of off-road racing forward through his innovative approach to safety. He adapted protective equipment from other sports—including football face guards and shoulder pads and baseball catcher’s shin guards—to create better protection for riders.
But to us, J.N. was more than his accomplishments and his legend. He was a member of the Stunts Unlimited family. Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends, and especially his son, Jimmy N. Roberts, who carries on that family connection as a member of Stunts Unlimited.
Ride on, J.N. You will be missed.
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Good writeup Chuckie.....👍
An amazing legend. His son, Jimmy Roberts is also a legend in stunt world as an amazing rider and performer. He is a mentor and dear friend of mine that got me into the stunt business and was also my sponsor into the Stunts Unlimited group.
A great family and all super talented on two wheels.
Godspeed, J.N. you will be missed.
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