James Nelson “J. N.” Roberts was a top desert racer in the 1960s and 1970s. He won the famous Barstow-to-Vegas race four times in a row and, with fellow AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Malcolm Smith as his teammate, won the motorcycle division of the 1967 Mexican 1000 (now, the Baja 1000).
Roberts appeared in the iconic motorcycling documentary, “On Any Sunday” in 1971 and competed for Team USA in the International Six Days Trial in 1971 and 1972.
J.N. Roberts was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.