World’s oldest motorcycle brand in continuous production since 1901 Royal Enfield today announced successfully completing the 90° South expedition, its quest for the South Pole on the Royal Enfield Himalayan. On 16 December 2021, two riders Santhosh Vijay Kumar and Dean Coxson, reached the geographic South Pole in 15 days. 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, the team covered an overland distance of 3,200 km over the next nine days, braving extreme climatic conditions with temperatures between -30 to -25 degrees and wind speed of 60 kph, towards Ross Ice Shelf. Located in the extreme south of the continent, Ross Ice Shelf was the designated starting point for the riders.
However, an unexpected blizzard forced the team to alter the course. Instead of starting the ride from 86 South, the team started the ride from 87 degree South. Despite a few initial road-blocks and a slight detour, the expedition team completed the quest on 16 December 2021, creating history.
For this expedition, two Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycles were modified in-house, with functional upgrades to be able to navigate snow and ice to ably function under extreme conditions in Antarctica. The motorcycles were ridden on a compacted snow track to the South Pole, to reduce motorcycle drag and limit emissions to an absolute minimum.
Currently the team is heading towards Union Glacier, the western part of Antarctica, from where they will fly out to Punta Arenas, Chile.
