Words: Trials Guru (with Reference to Sammy Miller Museum Trust).

Photos: Iain Lawrie; Sammy Miller Museum Trust; Bernie Schreiber; Barry Robinson estate; Rob Edwards Collection/Trials Guru Archive; Glenn Carney; Ray Biddle; Jason Batsford; Bob Dunwoody & Fiona Watson.

Sammy Miller MBE:

Samuel Hamilton Miller, MBE was born on the eleventh of November in 1933 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Better known as ‘Sammy’ and as a trials rider, but of course he was much more than that.

He is the most famous motorcycle trials rider of all time.

During the war Sammy and his friends played on their bicycles on waste ground and bomb sites, this is where he sharpened his off-road riding skills.

Sammy’s first competitive event as a road racer was in 1953 when he was twenty years of age.

His first Scottish Six Days Trial was in 1954 still twenty years of age on a machine he built himself to his own specification, using a mixture of parts being a Villiers two-stroke motor of 197 cc displacement in a 1930s Matchless frame.

He called it the ‘S.H.S’ which stood for Samuel Hamilton Special. He rode the machine to Belfast Docks, boarded a ship which sailed to Scotland’s west coast, rode the event which started in Edinburgh and rode back to the Docks, boat and back home to Belfast. He narrowly missed winning the award for the best newcomer, the Peter S. Chamberlain trophy, which was awarded to Sid Wicken who had ridden a factory Norman.

Moving across the Irish Sea to the Midlands of England, Sammy signed for Ariel Motors, Selly Oak, Birmingham in 1957 to ride their HT5 machine and was allocated the machine carrying the registration mark GOV132, which had started out as a factory retained rigid trials machine in 1949. Ariels kept a hold of three registration numbers GOV130, 131 and 132 for their works trials team. Miller retained the registration mark GOV132 until 1964 along with his second Ariel, 786GON which is the subject of a test and short feature on this website Details: link HERE. Short Feature: 786GON

 Ariel Development:

Miller did extensive work on the Selly Oak, Birmingham supplied 498cc HT5 model and pared its weight down considerably to its final 1964 form. This was done by the use of lighter wheel hubs taken from the company’s Leader road machine and making the seat/rear mudguard unit, front mudguard and fuel tank from fibreglass resin, manufactured by Butler Mouldings. The machine was purposeful with the exhaust outlet angled to blow leaf and debris from the rear tyre. He drilled many components to reduce weight and used lightweight aluminium alloys for many of the components in an effort to reduce un-sprung weight.

Miller realised that the British motorcycle industry was becoming ruled by accountants and development work took a back seat. This was contrary to Miller’s temperament; he was constantly trying new ideas.

Bultaco – Cemoto:

It came to a head when Ariel was taken over by the larger BSA concern and the writing was on the wall. Miller had been introduced to Snr. F.X. Bultó by friend Harry Lindsay and Bultó was keen to enlist the services of Miller to develop further the Sherpa N off-road model into a trials machine to be known as the ‘Sherpa T’. He had only one person to convince and that was Senor Bultó.

Secret testing began in company with his friend Roy Peplow at Bultó’s ranch called ‘San Antonio’. Much work had already been done on the Sherpa N, but Miller would take it to new heights and to many wins. He had it written into his contract that if he didn’t win more than fifty percent of the events entered, then Bultó didn’t have to pay him, such was his confidence in making the Bultaco Sherpa T into a winning machine.

For more details of how Sammy did this, see our Bultaco – Spain ‘section’.

The Scottish Six Days was won five times by Sammy, twice on the Ariel (1962 & 1964) and three on a Bultaco (1965, 1967 & 1968).

Miller won the Scott Trial seven times, three on the Ariel (1958, 1962 & 1963) and four times on a Bultaco (1967-1970).

Miller was ACU British Trials Champion eleven times and was European Trials Championship (Challenge Henry Groutards) Bultaco mounted twice (1968 & 1970).

Sammy left Bultaco in 1973 moving to the mighty Honda company to form a trials team which saw Yorkshireman, Rob Shepherd become British Champion, full details of this can be found in our Honda Trials ‘section’.

Sammy Miller is a winner of over 1,300 trials, a mixture of International, National and Centre events. He has accumulated nine gold medals from the International Six Days Trial.

In racing he rode a variety of machines including AJS 7R, Mondial and NSU, he has won three 250cc North West 200 events (1956-1958).

He set up his own motorcycle parts business in 1964 in New Milton, Hampshire, called ‘Sammy Miller Equipe’ which later became Sammy Miller Products Ltd.

The Sammy Miller Motorcycle museum was formed and he created a trust to ensure that the machines he owned would continue to be seen for years to come. Sammy sold his parts empire in 2007 to Richard Jordan and then sold on once again.

Miller the author:

Over the years, Sammy has written three books on the sport which detail accurately his achievements.

These include: Sammy Miller On Trials’; ‘Clean To The Finish – How to ride to trials success’ and ‘The Will To Win’; ‘The Sammy Miller Story – By Jeff Clew in 1993’. Also a book written about him by Mick Walker, ‘Sammy Miller – Motorcycle Legend’.

Miller still keeps himself busy on a daily basis by working in his workshop which still undertakes restoration work for the museum and customers. Above the door to his workshop is a sign that declares: “Another Day In Paradise“.

Museum:

In 1996 Sammy Miller MBE took over the run-down premises of an old farm and converted the barns into a modern, prestigious building with picturesque surroundings. It is now accepted as housing one of the finest collections of fully restored motorcycles in the world, including factory racers and exotic prototypes. At the end of 2004 permission was granted for an extension to the museum which now allows it to house over 400 exhibits.

In 2009 Sammy Miller was awarded an MBE for services to motorcycle sport in the New Year’s Honours, a truly fitting accolade for someone who popularised and promoted the sport of motorcycle trials world-wide.

Honda:

When Sammy parted company with Honda Motor Company when they shelved their trials team in 1977, he joined forces with the fledgling Italian manufacturer, SWM (Speedy Working Motor). He was active in the development of the initial red and white Guanaco model which utilised an Austrian made Rotax reed valve induction two-stroke motor.

Sammy keeps himself active and continues to ride motorcycles at every given opportunity.

The Sammy Miller Museum boasts an ‘Off-Road’ section, which is populated with a truly amazing collection of machines from a variety of motorcycle sports. These range from specialist ISDT machines from the sixties and seventies, including a Greeves ridden by Mary Driver. There is also the long-track championship winning machine of the late Simon Wigg.

Renovation:

Always one to bring something new to the museum, Sammy acquired the famous 1961 factory 350 AJS (187BLF) ridden by the late Gordon Jackson when he recorded his famous ‘one dab’ win at the Scottish Six Days Trial.

The machine was in a disassembled form which required an extensive rebuild back to the specification that Gordon Jackson used the machine in the 1961 SSDT.

The museum houses the finest collection of fully restored motorcycles in Europe, including factory racers and exotic prototypes, plus memorabilia spanning seven decades of motorcycling for sport and for pleasure. There are over 400 rare and classic motorcycles on display in four galleries.

During all this he has still found the time to restore many rare and exotic machines to concourse condition and perfect working order. These he kept as a private collection until 1980 when he opened up a museum so that the public could have a chance to see and hear them. He even took some abroad to many locations, including Australia and New Zealand, so that they could be seen by as many people as possible.

He has now placed the entire collection into a Trust to enable it to be kept together for future generations to experience and admire. There is no one more dedicated to motorcycling than Sam. He spends ten hours a day seven days a week working, promoting or restoring motorcycles.

The museum is open pretty much all year round. For more information please visit: Tel: 01425 620 777 – Sammy Miller Website HERE: – Mail: museum@sammymiller.co.uk

Sammy Miller MBE – Achievements:

• 11 times successive British Champion.
• Twice European Trials Champion – the forerunner to the World Championship.
• 13 times successive Hurst Cup winner.
• 18 times successive Walter Rusk Trial winner.
• 5 times winner of the famous Scottish Six Day Trial.
• 7 times winner of the World’s most arduous trial the Scott Trial on the harsh and unforgiving Yorkshire moors.
• Winner of over 1482 Trials events.
• 9 Gold medals at International Six Day Trials.
• Irish Motocross Champion.
• Irish Sand Racing Champion.
• Winner of most Irish Road races, including winning the North West 200 and the Leinster 200 three years in succession.
• Third in the World Grand Prix Championships on a works Mondial.
• Sponsor of the British Classic Trial Championships.
• 2007 – Inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
• 2014 – Named FIM Legend.
• 2021 – The first motorcyclist ever to be awarded the Guild of Motoring Writers President’s Trophy.
• 2025 – Inducted into FIM Hall of Fame at Lausanne, Switzerland to recognise his immense lifetime contribution to motorcycle sport.

Sammy Miller MBE has been recognised by the FIM.
The Sammy Miller Museum’s 1949 AJS Porcupine race machine is now on loan to the new FIM Museum and is in pride of place at the entrance.
Sammy was thrilled and honoured to be one of the first four FIM Legends to be inducted into the first FIM Hall of Fame at the entrance to the new FIM museum at Mies, Switzerland.
It coincided with the 2025 FIM Awards Ceremony in the evening and Sammy presented the winners of the World Trials Championships with their medals.

Bilbliography:

Sammy Miller Museum Trust, New Milton, Hampshire

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