J.N. Roberts

James Nelson Roberts II (December 12, 1941 – August 18, 2026) was an American 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.

Desert racing career James Nelson Roberts II was born on December 12, 1941, in Evansville, Indiana, and grew up nearby. He moved to Southern California in the 1960s after serving in Okinawa with the United States Marine Corps. He worked as a carpenter on film sets at Universal Studios and, began competing in off-road desert motorcycle races during his spare time. Despite the horsepower advantage of the larger motorcycles, Roberts' Husqvarna motorcycle weighed only 245 pounds making it more nimble and agile than the larger motorcycles. He also won the Mint 400, the Baja 500 and the Baja 1000 twice each. Roberts also represented the United States at the 1971 and 1972 International Six Days Trial. The International Six Days Trial is a form of off-road motorcycle Olympics that is the oldest annual competition sanctioned by the FIM, dating back to 1913.

Roberts pioneered a number of safety innovations in the field of off-road racing. He did this by incorporating protective gear from other sports with his own: bolting a football helmet face guard to his motorcycle helmet, wearing football shoulder pads, (as well as a baseball catcher's shin guards). These changes were considered to be the first steps in the evolution of modern safety equipment. During his desert racing career, Roberts became acquainted with fellow motorcyclist and future film director, Hal Needham. Roberts impressed observers with a motorcycle stunt in the film Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970) and, doubled for Paul Newman for motorcycle scenes in the film, Sometimes a Great Notion (1970).

Awards Roberts was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2009, Roberts was inducted into the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Roberts appeared in the motorcycle documentary films On Any Sunday (1971), Dust to Glory (2005), and in Full Circle, The Legend Lives (2008).