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Royal Enfield is to collaborate with the British Army Motorised Adventure (AMA) group.
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Four Himalayan 450 motorcycles are to be provided to the AMA for training, including at publicly attended AMA exercises such as EX Mudmaster and EX Roadmaster, positioning the Himalayan 450 as a premier off-road motorcycle.
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This initiative supports the training and development of soldiers, helping them to fulfil their crucial role in serving the United Kingdom.
Milton Keynes, UK, Royal Enfield - Building on the heritage between Royal Enfield and the military, Royal Enfield is delighted to announce a new partnership with the British Army, supporting the Army Motorised Adventure group (AMA) with the supply of four new Royal Enfield Himalayan 450s to aid training and personnel development.
Not only that, but Royal Enfield will become an integral part of the British Army’s upcoming events calendar, initially supporting the AMA at the recent 2025 Army Motorsport Day at Thruxton Circuit, as well as subsequent events for Exercise Mudmaster and Exercise Roadmaster.
British Army personnel will also be present at future Royal Enfield events, most notably MCL 2025 (Motorcycle Live at the NEC, 15-23 November) and other key events for 2026.
Royal Enfield’s George Cheeseman, commented, “We are thrilled to provide support to the British Army’s Motorised Adventure initiative. With such a deep rooted history we felt compelled to support the programme which we believe is hugely important. With the Himalayan, we can provide a machine that is truly capable and versatile in the toughest of conditions, while we will also supply personnel with genuine Royal Enfield apparel and accessories too. We look forward to supporting military personnel even further as our partnership develops.”
AMA Events with support from Royal Enfield
Kicking off this new partnership, the British Army Motorsport Association held an Army Motorsport Day at Thruxton Circuit on Wednesday, the 10th September. All 9 Army Motorsport disciplines (including 5 motorcycle disciplines) were in attendance, with service personnel and veterans from across the Armed Forces invited.
Following this initial event at Thruxton, the four Himalayan 450s will be used in further trials, specifically the Mudmaster and Roadmaster off-road navigation exercises, with quarterly UK-based training weekends planned in. These trials provide the perfect platform for serving military personnel to build on and master their skills - from technical riding, tactical planning and off-bike skills, to physical and psychological preparation.
In addition to these UK based navigation competitions, the AMA regularly participates in arduous overland expeditions.
In April, a 4x4 AMA crew was the first British team to win the Santana trophy in Morocco. In September, AMA delivered a Tri-Service expedition to Morocco, encompassing 26 personnel on motorcycles and in 4x4s and repeated this model in Namibia in November.
Lieutenant Colonel Nick Foulerton commented, “We are delighted to partner with Royal Enfield. As part of the Army Motorised Adventure programme, this unique association with a fleet of Himalayan 450s offers serving personnel the opportunity to not only get on to two-wheels, but to learn off-road skills and ultimately go on to participate in some of the great expeditions we embark on both on home soil and abroad. The British Army has an association with Royal Enfield that dates back to World War 1, so we’re delighted to reignite this partnership and look forward to this developing over the coming years."
Himalayan 450
Built for all roads, built for no roads, the choice of the Himalayan 450 was natural for the British Army, as it is for many owners around the world - as it’s the ultimate versatile off road motorcycle, selected by the best for their own training expeditions.
The latest iteration of the Himalayan lineage is a motorcycle with strong adventure capabilities, yet remains true to our philosophy of pure motorcycling. The all-new Himalayan 450 retains the capability, versatility and the ability to go anywhere your adventure takes you.
Where the Flying Flea has established a rich history with the British Army, this new partnership allows the Himalayan 450 to take the reins as a durable, reliable all-terrain motorcycle whilst building on Royal Enfield’s uncomplicated and accessible nature, with the Himalayan 450s in particular providing the perfect platform for adventure and exploration for the military personnel of Britain.
Royal Enfield’s military legacy
The British Army’s use of Royal Enfields can be traced back to 1914, by far the most prominent early development was the creation of the machine gun sidecar. Using the Maxim gun from their Made Like A Gun publicity display, the company produced a prototype in May 1914 and sent it to the Ministry of Munitions for testing.
Between 1939 and 1945, support for the British Army continued, with Royal Enfield producing large quantities of military motorcycles, bicycles, generators and ant-aircraft gun predictors during the Second World War. The most iconic model is the world’s first ‘airborne’ motorcycle, the 60kg 125cc motorcycle known as the Flying Flea, loaded into specially fabricated parachute cradles and dropped in with paratroopers behind enemy lines, supporting the Allied Forces on D-Day and other military campaigns.
Building on the successes of the Long Range Desert Group during the North African campaign of World War II, the British military has promoted vehicle mounted expeditions over the last 70 years as an activity closely aligned to operational requirements.
In 2018, in collaboration with the British Ministry of Defence, the Classic 500 Pegasus Edition was launched at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Paying homage to Flying Fleas used by the Parachute Regiment during WWII, the 750 limited edition machines were available in Olive Drab or Service Brown and badged with the Airborne Regiment’s Pegasus insignia and a unique stencilled serial number on their tanks. Each machine is a piece of history, a tribute to the resilience of the company, a salute to its long-standing partnership with the armed forces.
Thanks to their incredible utility and reliability, Royal Enfield bikes are used to this day around the world by law enforcement, armed forces, and adventure extraordinaires alike.
For all media enquiries, including press fleet requests, please get in touch with the Motocom team at [email protected] or call +44 (0) 1525 270100.
About AMA
The AMA are predominantly an Army-owned group, but they count a community of in excess of 450 tri-service members.
They aim to support service members in conducting their own on-duty expeditions, by providing the guidance, paperwork, funding and administration support.
They also provide training and competitive opportunities to develop our team members’ riding, medical, mechanical, patrolling and other military skills.
In the last three years, they have assisted in the organisation of five on-duty expeditions:
- Exercise Cornish Raider (UK)
- Exercise Welsh Raider (UK)
- Exercise Norther Raider (UK)
- Exercise Atlas Enduro - Morocco
- Exercise Eagles’ Endurance – Namibia
About Royal Enfield
The oldest motorcycle brand in continuous production, Royal Enfield has created beautifully crafted motorcycles since 1901. From its British roots, a manufacturing plant was established in Madras in 1955, a foothold from which Royal Enfield spearheaded the growth of India’s mid-sized two-wheeler segment. Royal Enfields are engaging, uncomplicated, accessible and fun to ride; a vehicle for exploration and self-expression. It’s an approach the brand calls Pure Motorcycling.
Royal Enfield’s premium line-up includes Bear 650, Classic 650, Guerrilla 450 modern roadster, Hunter 350, Meteor 350, Super Meteor 650, Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 twins, the Shotgun 650, the new Himalayan adventure tourer, the Scram 440 ADV Crossover, the iconic Bullet 350, Classic 350 and Goan Classic 350. The company recently unveiled its new city+ motorcycle brand – the Flying Flea – a fresh take on urban mobility, blending authentic design with advanced technology.
Riders and a passionate community are fostered with a rich profusion of events at a local, regional and international level. Most notable are Motoverse (previously Rider Mania), an annual gathering of thousands of Royal Enfield enthusiasts in Goa, and Himalayan Odyssey; a yearly pilgrimage over some of the toughest terrain and highest mountain passes.
A division of Eicher Motors Limited, Royal Enfield operates through more than 2000 stores across all major cities and towns in India and through nearly 850 stores in more than 60 countries around the globe. Royal Enfield also has two world-class technical centres, in Bruntingthorpe, UK, and in Chennai, India. The company’s two state-of-the-art production facilities are located at Oragadam and Vallam Vadagal, near Chennai. Across the world, Royal Enfield has six modern CKD assembly facilities in Bangladesh, Nepal, Brazil, Thailand, Argentina and Colombia.
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