Royal Enfield reaches the South Pole

With 120 years of history behind it, Royal Enfield made history once again on 16th December when two riders, Santhosh Vijay Kumar and

Dean Coxson reached the geographic South Pole, 90 degree south, after a 15-day ride on Royal Enfield Himalayans.

The team arrived at Novo in Antarctica from Cape Town for four days of acclimatisation, loading of supplies, checking equipment and the motorcycles. From Novo, they covered 3,200 kilometres over the next nine days, braving extreme weather conditions and temperatures as low as -30F as they pressed on towards the Ross Ice Shelf, the designated start point at 86 degrees south. However an unexpected blizzard forced the team to shift the start point to 87 degrees south for the 400km ride to the South Pole at 90 degrees south.

For this expedition, the two Himalayans were prepared in-house, with minor upgrades to enable them to navigate the snow and ice and function under the extreme conditions. The bikes were ridden on a compacted snow track to the South Pole to reduce motorcycle drag and limit emissions to an absolute minimum. Royal Enfield made a major effort to ensure that no footprint remains after the expedition except for the wheel tracks that will quickly be obscured by snow drifts. ■