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To celebrate its 120th anniversary, Royal Enfield decided to do something really special. People have ridden their bikes across every continent, except Antarctica. It was time to cross that continent as well.
Spoiler alert: They made it. But exactly how did they do it? How did the Royal Enfield Antarctica adventure go down? They just started releasing the video documentary of the trip, with the first two episodes live now. It’s well worth checking out.
Testing in Iceland
One does not simply walk into Mordor, nor ride a Royal Enfield into Antarctica. Problems that would be a minor inconvenience for you or me could be deadly in the middle of Antarctica. You can’t exactly call roadside assistance for help. So Santhosh Vijay, Adarsh Saxena, and their team went the opposite direction, to Iceland, to test these only lightly modified Himalayans on a glacier. Here they had the support they needed if they ran into trouble — which they did.
The first day of the trip, they made absolutely no progress whatsoever. The bikes were fine, but their tire choices didn’t seem to be working. They finally settled on studded tubeless tires running at low pressure, which finally seemed to work. The team put down some good distance, got some sweet drone shots, learned a great deal. They were ready to begin the real adventure.
Bottom of the World
Episode two takes place two years later, at the beginning of the Antarctic journey itself. Many plans have changed. Adarsh Saxena is out, and Dean Coxson is in as the second rider. After meeting and quarantining in Cape Town, South Africa, the team flew to Camp Novo, Antarctica on a private jet—their last bit of civilization for the next 40 days. Camp Novo is an oasis in the harsh, unforgiving Antarctic landscape. Here they unpacked the bikes from their shipping crates, reassembled them, and prepared them for the journey ahead.
These Himalayans have only minor modifications. Besides the special tires, the electrical systems have been upgraded to provide extra power for heated gear, as well as the all-important GoPro cameras. A smaller 13-tooth front sprocket replaces the standard 15-tooth one for extra torque at the expense of top speed. Nobody’s making speed runs in these conditions anyway. None of these modifications are out of the ordinary for anyone wishing to ride a Himalayan in snowy, icy conditions.
The journey itself will truly get underway in episode three. I’m looking forward to it. As someone who ran away from New England to Arizona specifically to avoid real winters, I admire what the Royal Enfield crew has done. I’m perfectly happy watching from the relatively warm desert. (Sorry.)
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