This interview was with somebody who is a quiet, unassuming, reserved man, yet a rider who had great determination and skill in his chosen sport of scrambling/motocross through the years. Perhaps recognised more in the Pre’65 era, he had a riding style and reputation as a gutsy wild man and was instantly recognisable, a Triumph Metisse, throttle wide open, bike broad-siding but fully under control, the rider in a determined concentrated posture. Now retired from Motocross but keeping his hand in at local trials, that man is Roger Neale.

Mike Naish: Where are you from and how did you get into motorcycling?

Roger Neale: “I was born in Dittisham in 1949 and went to the local school until I was 15. My Dad used to do a bit of grass track and he also used to go and watch scrambles with a bloke in the village, and I went with them. There was a rider near the village that used to ride and I thought ‘I could do that’. In 1963 I was given the opportunity to have a ride at Plymouth speedway. I was fitted out in all the gear and then I went into the fence in the first race and that was that, Dad would not sign the contract.”

“I had an Enfield road bike and in 1964 I traded it in for an old 1961 Greeves MCS at ‘Crooks’ in Totnes, where Brian Trott used to work. In fact it was Brian who brought the bike down to me in a pick-up. My Dad didn’t want me to ride in scrambles so I kept it up at the farm where I worked at the top of Dittisham, so of course then I had to walk to work every day having sold the road bike. I used to ride the bike around the fields and my parents wondered where I was going every Sunday, so one day they followed me and saw me riding but in fact they were all right about it.  I had a BSA C15 road bike after a while to ride on the road.”

MN: What was your first event?

RN: “It was a South Molton scramble in 1964 on the MCS Greeves. I remember it was a course where we had to go up and down a valley with a river in the bottom. I did about five or six meetings on the MCS and then we found we were pushing it more than riding it so my Gran lent me the money to buy a Greeves Challenger. I rode Greeves from 1965 to 1969 finishing up with a Griffon. I started off in junior events and picked up a little bit of money and did additional work cutting grass which helped to pay my Gran back and then after a couple of seasons I got upgraded. We went up and rode at Tweseldown and did well on the two-fifty and Greeves started helping me with spares. Pat Trott had rang them up and asked them to sponsor me, and they did with 50% in the cost of spares. The Trott family were good to me. Pat could be a bit fiery at times but she has a heart of gold. My Dad and Cyril Tucker who owned the local shop used to do the maintenance on the bikes. When Arthur Browning and Dick Clayton had the Greeves Griffon they had very big frames, but because Vic Allan was quite short they made him a special low-line frame. They also gave me the same low-line rolling chassis that I could put my engine in because I was also quite short.”

MN: Who was your next sponsor?

RN: “I was sponsored by Bernard Taylor on Husqvarna on the understanding that Reg Squires looked after the bike. Of course in those days sponsorship was quite good they would give you the bike, all the spares, riding kit, the lot. That was followed with a BSA B50 from Pete Tizard and Weymouth Motorcycles and a succession of Japanese two-strokes from dealers in the South West which included Bernard Singleton, Fluff Brown, Torbay Motorcycles, Devon Motocross and Damerells of Cornwall. Probably my most successful partnership of that era was with Badger Goss and the Maico.”

MN: You have had a few bad accidents?

RN: “Yes unfortunately, I have some bad bangs in the head. I came off the Maico second time out. I was racing against Freddie Mayes somewhere up country in a TV scramble and I got pushed out on a corner and fell and a footrest split my helmet and cut my head open from front to rear. After that I was riding grass track on a BSA and I had it laid down when I hit a piece of steel that had come off in an earlier sidecar accident. Well I came off and Richard Heslick went over the top of me and a footrest hit my head and I was out for two days. The worst was down in Cornwall at Nancemellin near Camborne. I came off coming down after a jump and was hit in the back by a rider following me. I was badly injured and lost the feelings in my legs for some months. It was a very worrying time because I could not work. I had to give up work on the farm but the family and the local community helped me out when we needed it most, they were brilliant. Then I gave up scrambling for six years. When I was a bit better I got a job with the water board. I had started my own business on the side in 1978, breaking bikes and then I went full time in 1985.”

MN: When did you start Pre65 racing?

RN: “In 1986 at the Bonanza. I had this old Metisse, it was an old Rob Taylor machine in the bike breaking yard, so I did it up with the help of Pat French and entered the Bonanza. It was OK but it had a BSA gearbox which had a big gap between second and third; so I would overtake them going down the hill and then they would all pass me going up the other side. We soon sorted it out and I’ll tell you what, it was the most natural bike I ever rode, it was beautiful. So then Pat French persuaded me to do the British Championships.”

“Terry Hobbs of Plymouth used to set up the Triumphs. He used to take the engine and do it in the evenings. He would not even let his mechanics watch him working. He would have three sets of different timing wheels with additional splines machined on them so that you could get greater adjustment with them. He would time the bike depending on the course being ridden. He would also use modified manifolds on the six-fifty Triumph, they were very fast.“

MN: So when did you give up?

RN: “I had a bad smack up. I had a hell of an accident up at Yatton Kenall, all cow ruts. All I remember was kissing my little maid goodbye before the race and then waking up in Frenchay Hospital three days later. Apparently I had a bad start and was catching up. Going down the hill jumping off the top and landing, the backend started to twitch so I gave it a big handful and lost it in a big way. Well the bike missed me and so did four riders following, but Stuart Bowden hit me full on the helmet. It wasn’t his fault, bless him, and he was very cut up about it. The air ambulance had to take me to hospital. They didn’t think I would ever walk again and the neurosurgeon gave me some very strong advice.  I had to see him every month for a year because I got a lot of migraines, and he said to me that if I had another accident and get hit on the head again I would  probably be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. Well Mike I can tell you, I don’t mind dying but I don’t want to spend my life like a cabbage in a wheelchair, so I gave it all up.”

MN: You now ride in twinshock trials, how does it compare?

RN: “I’ll tell you Mike, I thoroughly enjoy it.  It is a lot more comradely than Motocross. We just chat all the time going around the sections. I wish I had done it before, they are a great bunch of lads. It is a totally different technique for me and of course it is a different sort of throttle control. I have to admit that sometimes in the past the old red mist came down, but I am more settled now and accept that the old days are past. I hope to keep on riding in trials for as long as possible and when time constraints of the business allow. I have actually changed my closing day from Wednesday to Thursday to allow me to ride some Wednesday evening trials. I still have my Metisse and I look at it sometimes because I have fond memories of those good years.”

MN: Thanks Roger, I hope the following years are good to you.

Mike Naish writes: I have only grazed the surface when talking to Roger and so much else has been written about him and his successes elsewhere in the press and many books. He is reticent to talk about his successes so here is a list of just some of his achievements:

1972 Member of the South West Centre team when winning the inter CentreTeam Scramble together with Badger Goss, Guy Winsor, Rob Gapper, Ted Thompson and Ron Kallaway.

1974    Winner of the International Motocross in the Isle of Man.

1974    South West Scrambles Champion.

1978    Cornish Centre 250cc Scrambles Champion.

1988    Member of the England Team at the Pre65 Motocross des Nations together with Mick Andrews, Simon Cheney and Arthur Browning.

1988-1995 Winner of the Pre-Unit class at the Norman Scramble at Beauval.

1989    Winner of best pairs with John May.

1990    Won the World team championship in the England team together with Dave Bickers, Adrian Moss and Roy Abbot.

1991-1994 European Pre65 Motocross Champion.

A Chat with Roger Neale is copyright, Mike Naish and Trials Guru 2025

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