Royal Enfield prepares for epic South Pole expedition

Royal Enfield is preparing to embark on an ambitious quest to the geographic South Pole using its popular Himalayan adventure tourer.

Dubbed ‘90° South’, the expedition will take place over 39-days and 770kms, with two Enfield employees piloting adventure-ready Himalayans across Antarctica, from the Ross Ice Shelf to the geographic South Pole.

Santhosh Vijay Kumar, Rides and Community Lead, and Dean Coxson, Senior Engineer, will leave from Cape Town, South Africa on November 26. They will ride from the Ross Ice Shelf, across the Leverett Glacier, all the way to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station.

While the pair won’t be the first motorcyclists to ride to the South Pole (Japan’s Shinji Kazama rode from Patriot Hills Base Camp in 1992), it is a journey that is very rarely taken on two wheels.

The Royal Enfield Himalayans will be purpose-built for the trip, and Icelandic company, Arctic Trucks, will provide support on the expedition. Arctic Trucks modifies vehicles for use in challenging conditions and is also a recognized Antarctica tourism operator.

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The bikes have been modified to cope with the extreme Antarctic conditions, with features including a smaller 13-tooth main drive sprocket for greater torque, a tubeless wheel setup with studded tyres for traction, and a stronger alternator with rare earth magnets to allow the riders to power heated riding gear. The bikes were tested at the Langjokull glacier in Iceland to mirror Antarctic conditions.

“An epic expedition like this to the South Pole will further inspire people to become adventurers again,” said Royal Enfield Managing Director, Siddhartha Lal. “A test of endurance and perseverance for man and machine, this expedition is the first of its kind attempt to traverse the 770km long route to the South Pole on a motorcycle.”

Generally, all personnel and cargo travelling to the Amundsen-Scott station on land arrive at McMurdo Station – a US research facility on the south tip of Ross Island. The route to Amundsen-Scott station is called the South Pole Traverse, or the McMurdo-South Pole Highway. It travels across the Ross Ice Shelf and then over the Transatlantic Mountains.

The supply route is flagged and consists of mostly compacted snow and ice. Interestingly, the South Pole Traverse is 1601kms in total, so it remains to be seen if the Enfield expedition will take a different route to achieve its goal of 770kms.

With most of the journey taking place in December, the riders will experience an Antarctic summer with 20 hours of sunlight per day, and balmy temperatures of around -30 degrees Celsius.

Coinciding with the British-born, Indian-owned brand’s 120th anniversary, the expedition continues a theme of exploration for Royal Enfield, which has previously tackled challenges like the Umling La mountain pass, Mt Everest Base Camp in Tibet, the Karakoram Pass, and the Kutch desert.

The Royal Enfield Himalayan was originally launched in 2016 and is characterised by its 411cc single-cylinder engine and dual-sport chassis. It was recently updated to meet Euro5 regulations and also received the brand’s Tripper navigation module.