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.
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 4×4 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 more Royal Enfield news check out our dedicated page Royal Enfield News
or head to the official Royal Enfield website royalenfield.com/uk
* Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission (at no cost to you) if you click on the link and make a purchase. Any money made goes straight back into the website and magazine. Your support is appreciated!
Original post on modernclassicbikes.co.uk and published by Frank Duggan. Frank is the Founder and Editor of Modern Classic Motorcycle News, an independent motorcycle publication covering modern classic motorcycles, roadsters, scramblers, cruisers, electric motorcycles and the wider motorcycle industry.
