Clint "The Barbarian" Miller

"The Barbarian" · born 1962 · 1983 IBMXF World Pro Champion

A BMXRacingHistory.com preview · hosted on Legend Bike Co

At a glance

Born April 29, 1962, Pomona, California

Nicknames "Miller Time" (early career) · "The Barbarian" (Torker era forward)

Known for 1983 IBMXF World Pro Champion on Kuwahara (Holland) · Recipient of the first production Long JMC Standard frame (serial JMC20, built June 15, 1977) · Torker's "Barbarian" ad campaign promoting the Torker 280

Major titles 1976 NBA Grandnationals, 14 Novice (first national win) · 1981 Anglo-American Challenge Invitational Champion (Redditch, England) · 1983 IBMXF World Pro Champion, Holland · 1984 Qantas BMX Titles — Australian Champion · 1984 USBA Pro Cruiser National #3

Turned pro 1978, age 15, on JMC Racing

Primary sponsors JMC Racing (Nov 1976–June 1978) · D.G. Performance Specialties (June–Dec 1978) · GJS So. Cal (Dec 1978–Dec 1979) · Torker (Dec 1979–Dec 1982) · Kuwahara (Jan 1983–Sept 1984) · Cycle Pro / GHP (Sept–Dec 1984) · CW Racing (Oct 1985–early 1986)

Hall of Fame ABA BMX Hall of Fame, inducted 2005

Clint Miller is one of the riders who connects two halves of BMX racing history — the bike-shop-team origin years of the mid-1970s, and the international, magazine-cover era of the early 1980s. He started racing as a teenager in the very first wave of organized BMX in Southern California, turned pro at 15 on Jim Melton's JMC Racing factory team, and finished his career a World Champion. In between, he raced for five major brands, was the rider Torker built one of the most-remembered ad campaigns of the era around, and won races on three continents.

The JMC Years: 1975–1978

Miller was born April 29, 1962 in Pomona, California. He came into BMX when the sport was still figuring out what it was. One of the early bike-shop teams was Jim Melton Cyclery in Long Beach. Miller was on that original 1975 JMC Bike Shop Team alongside Harry Leary, John Begin, Ronnie West, and others. He was 13 years old.

By late 1976, Melton had begun building his own chromoly frames under the JMC name. Miller's formal JMC factory sponsorship ran from mid-November 1976 through June 1978. He took his first national win that same month — the 1976 NBA Grandnationals, 14 Novice class.

On June 15, 1977, Jim Melton finished building the very first production Long JMC Standard frame — serial number JMC20 — and handed it to Clint Miller. That frame is documented in JMC's own production records. Miller turned pro on JMC in 1978 at 15 years old.

D.G. and GJS: The In-Between Years, 1978–1979

Miller put in 18 months with two of the period's other significant racing brands — D.G. Performance Specialties from June through December 1978, then GJS So. Cal from December 1978 through December 1979.

The standout race from this stretch was the December 1979 JAG BMX World Championships at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis — the race Perry Kramer won to effectively become the first World Champion of BMX. Miller finished fourth in the Open Pro class.

Torker and "The Barbarian": 1979–1982

Torker signed Miller in late December 1979. He stayed as a Senior Pro through December 1982 — three years that became the most-recognized stretch of his career.

The "Barbarian" name came out of Torker's advertising. The brand built a full-page ad campaign around Miller in the early 1980s, photographing him shirtless in war paint with a Conan-style framing, promoting the Torker 280 race frame. The ad ran in BMX Action and BMX Plus! and became one of the most-remembered single images of the era. From that point forward, "The Barbarian" stuck as Miller's racing nickname.

Miller first rode the Torker 26-inch cruiser in April 1981 and won the first time out. Pro Cruiser was a new class in 1981, with most of the top 20-inch pros ignoring it. Miller did the opposite — racked up wins through 1981 and 1982 and helped establish the class. His international career also kicked off during the Torker years, with a win at the Anglo-American Challenge Invitational at Redditch, England on May 3, 1981.

Whether Miller won the very first IBMXF Pro Worlds in 1980 on a Torker LP is a question the historical record handles two ways. Torker's own heritage page lists it. So does the prose in his Wikipedia entry. But the structured "titles held" section of the same Wikipedia article only credits him with the 1983 World title. The 1983 title is documented cleanly. The 1980 one is contested.

Kuwahara and the 1983 World Title

Miller left Torker at the end of 1982 and signed with Kuwahara Cycles in January 1983. Within months of joining, Miller delivered. He won the 1983 IBMXF World BMX Championships, Pro class, in Holland — the highest-profile international win of his career, on Kuwahara colors rather than Torker.

He stayed with Kuwahara through September 1984. The 1984 Qantas BMX Titles in Australia followed — Miller won the Pro class and was credited as 1984 Australian Champion.

GHP, CW, and Retirement: 1984–1986

From September through December 1984, Miller rode briefly for Cycle Pro / GHP. His final racing stint was with CW Racing from October 1985 through early 1986. By then the sport had shifted underneath him — the freestyle split was in full swing, Mike Miranda's pink uniforms were defining the visual style of the mid-80s, and a new generation of pros (Pete Loncarevich on CW, the early Tommy Brackens peak) were taking the front of the magazines.

Miller retired in early 1986 at age 24, after 10 years racing and 8 as a pro.

The Magazine Record

Miller landed eleven magazine covers across the five biggest titles in a six-year window — BMX Action (Jan/Feb 1979, May 1982, June 1982, Feb 1983, Aug 1983), BMX Plus! (Dec 1979, May 1982, Sept 1983, March 1984), Super BMX (Winter 1983 World Championship Special), BMX Action Bike UK (Oct 1983), and ABA American BMXer (Jan/Feb 1984). That puts him in the same bracket as Stu Thomsen, Perry Kramer, and Greg Hill.

CRD — California Racing Designs

Miller is associated within the old-school BMX community with the founding of CRD (California Racing Designs), a small Southern California BMX frame brand. The published record on CRD is thin and we have not been able to confirm Miller as founder against any contemporaneous magazine ad or factory team announcement. We are publishing what we can verify and flagging what we cannot. See the CRD chapter for details.

Hall of Fame and Legacy

Miller was inducted into the ABA BMX Hall of Fame in 2005 — the body that became the USA BMX Hall of Fame after the ABA/NBL merger in 2011. The induction recognized his pro career, his international wins, and his role as one of the riders who carried BMX racing from its bike-shop origins into the magazine era.

Sources

Wikipedia, "Clint Miller" (densely cited to period magazines). Jim Melton, "About" page at jmcbmx.wordpress.com. BMX Museum, JMC production record entry. fortyfour16.wordpress.com, "To the Max: The History of Torker, Part 7" (Gamstetter). Torker Racing, "Clint Miller — The Barbarian" rider profile (torkerracing.com/pages/clint-miller-the-barbarian). USA BMX Hall of Fame, induction record for Clint Miller, 2005. University of BMX, "History of BMX (1978–1979)." BMX Action, BMX Plus!, Super BMX, BMX Action Bike (UK), and ABA American BMXer cover archives via oldschoolmags.com.