Charlie Rogers, Master of Reliability Trials

By 1938, Charlie Rogers, trials rider extraordinaire, had notched up victories in two of the toughest competitions of their time — the British Experts Trial and the International Six Days Trial — where he won a gold medal no less. Eventually, Rogers took over the Enfield competition shop where his tuning wizardry was central to trials successes through the 1950s.

In 1937, Royal Enfield riders won a record-breaking 37 trials trophies along with six gold medals in the ISDT, with legends such as Charlie Rogers, George Holdsworth and Jack Booker riding 250 and 350cc Bullets and the 500cc Special Competition Model to victory.

The Special Competition Model was a masterstroke - for the first time it gave amateur trials riders an off-the-shelf, purpose-built, competition motorcycle. Royal Enfield announced it was: ‘Built to the requirements of experienced trials riders and incorporating those features which make all the difference on difficult sections.’

The 350 and 500cc Special Competition Model engines were highly tuned and selectively assembled. The rigid cradle frame had a shortened wheelbase, increased ground clearance and came with a protective sump guard. Footrests and handlebars were adjustable and the waterproof Dunlop saddle was of the raised trials type. A 21” front wheel came as standard and the mudguards were narrow and lightweight. A Lucas racing Magdyno was fitted and the headlamp was quickly detachable, although those competitors who would never ride their bikes on the road and therefore needed no lights could order a BTH or Lucas Racing Magneto instead. A wide ratio gearbox, with extra low bottom and second gears, was employed along with an upswept exhaust. What a package!

Towards the end of the decade, Charlie Rogers came to the fore as one of the country’s leading trials riders.

‘I was sitting on the side of a hill reporting a trial. The hill was a very difficult one and most of the competitors were making a bit of a mess of the climb,’ Paton wrote in a 1938 MotorCycle magazine report. ‘Just as I was thinking of moving, another competitor came up the hill. He was standing bolt upright on the footrests and his arms were straight and rigid. Through the mud and over the slimy rocks that were causing everyone else to fall he rode without hesitation and without once looking unsafe. It was a brilliant climb in the style of an expert.’

That rider was C N Rogers, better known to all as Charlie Rogers. A carpenter by trade, Charlie began competing on Bullets in 1933. In 1937 he won the toughest one-day trial of the year, the British Experts Trial, which he followed up with a number of high profile wins in 1938, including a gold medal in the International Six Days Trial.

Charlie worked as an army motorcycle instructor during World War Two but was straight back into winning ways as soon as peace broke out and trials competitions started again.

‘I spent time in the Royal Enfield competition department preparing my own bikes and eventually Major Smith asked me if I would take charge of the department,’ he later recalled.

Regarded as something of a tuning wizard, he remained head of the competition shop until the Redditch factory closed in 1967.

Royal Enfield’s 120 year heritage of producing highly capable off-road motorcycles was showcased in 2019 with the release of one of its last 500cc single cylinder models, the Bullet Trials Works Replica. Finished with a silver and chrome tank and traditional Enfield competition red or green frame, the 2019 Bullet Trials Works Replica was created as an homage to the victorious trials mounts of the late 1950s as ridden by Royal Enfield’s then star rider, Johnny Brittain.

And guess who specially prepared each and every one of those all-conquering trials Bullets for Johnny to ride in the 1950s? None other than Charlie Rogers!