The motorcycle rules the roads in India. There were a staggering 221 million registered bikes and scooters as of 2025, with over 47% of all households owning some kind of two-wheeled machine.

Drive along the often-congested routes and you’ll see motorcycles being used as taxis, pick-up trucks and, occasionally, farm machinery. It’s the cheapest and most convenient way to get around, with one name dominating the middleweight category: Royal Enfield.

Now the poster-child for low cost but achingly cool machines in the UK and Europe, Royal Enfield’s history in India goes way back, with the original Bullet 350 model introduced in the 1950s as a tool for the army and police force to use.

The bike captured the public imagination and soon several models were being manufactured in India, proving popular up until the 1990s when the company was in desperate need of a buyout and a refresh. This came and a focus on retro-modern machines in the 2010s saw popularity explode in the country… and beyond.

As a result, Royal Enfield remains the oldest continuously produced motorcycle brand in the country and one that has weathered several storms. On top of this, it was among the first brands to switch the narrative of motorcycling in the country from something that’s merely a tool for everyday life, to a tool for self-expression.

Customisation naturally followed, as did pride in ownership. As with any other brand, Royal Enfield owners started forming groups, sharing mechanical knowledge and heading off into India’s gorgeous landscapes to explore.

It seems only natural, then, that the company opted to curate its only annual festival to celebrate the bikes and their owners. Rider Mania was first held in the paradisiacal surroundings of Goa in 2003 and it saw thousands of riders make the pilgrimage to the west coast to party, compete and plan future adventures.

But Royal Enfield has since become a global player and, as a result, wanted to tweak its formula to be more inclusive. Think chart-topping headline acts, custom bike builders from every continent and a desire to compete with the likes of Wheels & Waves, The Malle Mile and Glemseck as a destination for motorcycling enthusiasts.

Welcome to the Motoverse.

Into the deep end

The flight from the UK to Goa often requires a changeover in Delhi, which is the perfect introduction to the way things are handled in India. Those that respect an orderly queueing system should probably avoid.

Arrival in New Delhi is accompanied by a broken internal clock, as well as the mentally-taxing task of transferring from one airport to another, collecting bags, checking them back in again and having an entire backpack full of camera gear intensely pored over by security guards that don’t seem to realise that it’s not cool to toss a £2k lens around like it’s a tube of toothpaste.

Almost 24 hours after leaving London, we arrive in Goa. Despite it being almost 10pm, the roads outside of the airport are chaotic. Cars, scooters, bicycles, pedestrians and the odd cow are all busy navigating the seemingly endless rush hour traffic. It’s hot, noisy and a fantastic assault on all senses.

The taxi ride from the airport to our accommodation in Vagator — a popular tourist destination in the north of Goa — is made in a rickety old Toyota that has been converted to run on compressed natural gas. We have to stop to refuel and we’re asked to get out by the driver, fag in hand, just in case the thing explodes.

“It’s boiling hot, noisy and the most visceral two-wheeled experience you could imagine”

Health and safety isn’t a concept that has reached much of the Indian continent yet, with a slap-dash approach to helmet-wearing from most bike riders… many of whom manage to juggle gears in a pair of flip-flops. This is proper seat-of-your-pants stuff, where the horn is used like sonar, as opposed to a warning system.

Thankfully for us, we’ve been handed the keys to a Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 in order to keep up with the locals, despite stinking and appearing dangerously sleep-deprived. The bike, a thoroughly modern bobber that uses the marque’s torque-y 648cc parallel twin motor, is smart, stylish and easy to ride. But we can’t help thinking those that were tossed keys to the new Himalayan 450 got the better deal considering the state of the “roads”.

Showered, full of Goan fish curry and perfectly brimmed with cheap, ice-cold beer, we decide to prematurely call the nighttime exploration of Vagator to an end, partly because it felt very easy to ride into a massive hole and partly because Motoverse opens its doors tomorrow and the myriad bars, discos and karaoke shacks are just way too tempting.

A festival of light

Outside of monsoon season, the weather in Goa is typically very hot, very sunny and very moist. Humidity is high but the beating tropical sun is a welcome site as it rises over palm trees and exotic plants outside of the hotel window.

We are up early, donning armoured jeans, boots and a lightweight Knox jacket as suggested by our Royal Enfield hosts, but immediately regret the clothing choice when sat idling on the Shotgun 650, waiting for our group of international media to assemble.

The first port of call is the Royal Enfield Garage Cafe, which is only a short hop from the hotel by bike but it is a wild enough ride to have adrenaline levels spiking. Traffic flows in all directions, indicators are mere adornments and hazards can range from escaped chickens to a cement mixer that’s leaking, erm, cement.

It’s boiling hot, noisy and the most visceral two-wheeled experience you could imagine, but as someone coming from the grey, heavily-policed streets of the UK, it’s also paradise.

The Garage Cafe is like a Bike Shed-lite, blending delicious food and drink with a welcoming attitude and, of course, a shop in order to stock up on branded goodies. There’s also a workshop in the back for fixing broken bikes and delivering new ones to customers.

We stock up on chai tea, breakfast smoothies and massive açai bowls, before watching Kerala’s premier rapper and singer Hanumankind lead a ride-out of Royal Enfield devotees from the Garage to the Motoverse festival site. The roads are already chaotic enough, without pop star fans swerving to get a selfie with the rapper, so we hang back.

“Music pounds from a main stage, with DJs and bands playing from midday to midnight”

Once safely at the site, after dodging potholes, school kids and yet more cows, we are able to check out the festival before its doors open to the public. There’s a colossal Wall of Death, a flat-track school, scramble track and several areas reserved for bike control mini-games.

A huge area of the clifftop site is dedicated to retail stalls, with both local and global companies showing off their latest product, while food trucks and numerous bars line the horizon, with the shimmering Arabian Sea acting as the perfect backdrop.

For those wanting to seek some shade from the fierce midday sun, there’s the ‘Tribal Village’ that resides underneath a crop of massive palms, complete with a stage for talks and live music, yet more food stalls and places to chill and catch up with friends.

A show of strength

A few hours into our tour of the site, there is a thunderous roar emanating from what feels like a mile away. Engines are revving, drums are pounding and the distant noise of vuvuzelas and other instruments starts to draw closer.

This is the soundtrack to the arrival of various Royal Enfield riding clubs that have made the journey to Goa, especially for the festival. They arrive in massive groups, sporting matching colours and insignias, all led in by drummers and outriders wielding flares.

The atmosphere is chaotic but absolutely buzzing. Crowds line the road leading up to the festival gates and welcome in the riders with cheering and clapping. Pillion passengers stand on pegs waving enormous flags and yet more flares are added to the choking  scene.

As soon as one club has entered the site, another seems to follow, again accompanied by its own unique mix of song, dance and pyrotechnics. All the while, Royal Enfield engines of all ages are being revved until bolts come loose.

With punters now flowing through the site, the festival gets going. Music pounds from a main stage, with DJs and bands playing from midday to midnight, while the more chilled Tribal Village plays host to acoustic acts and motivational speakers.

The Wall of Death puts on shows throughout the day, despite the intense heat, people mooch around the stalls and Royal Enfield shows off its many custom machines on various stands.

Although the brand is keen to open up the Motoverse to world, this is very much still an Indian affair, with one grinning rider telling me he and some friends rode all the way from West Bengal to be here— a trip that took the best part of eight days and required some imaginative impromptu camping.

But that’s likely just one of many fantastical tales, as the spirit here seems to very much be about adventure, getting out on your bike, not just looking at it. This point is proven as hundreds of riders queue up to put skills and machine to the test in various gymkhana-style obstacle courses or, if that’s not their thing, competing in a pull-up challenge or beer-chugging contest. All the while, comrades clap and cheer like it’s a World Cup Final.

The Flying Flea

As with Wheels & Waves, The Malle Mile and numerous other alternative bike shows across the globe, Motoverse is also the perfect place for Royal Enfield to showcase future product and, this year, it has an entire air-conditioned cafe on site, dedicated to its upcoming Flying Flea.

The electric bike, which is influenced heavily by a Royal Enfield model that was parachuted out of planes during World War 2 (you can see an original hanging on the ceiling of the Garage Cafe in Goa), is destined to open up riding to an entirely new audience.

“Elsewhere across the vast, dusty site, there are trials competitions and physical challenges in the form of a mini Hyrox event”

The C6, which will be the first bike to go on sale later this year, features a unique forged aluminium Girder fork design, single bobber-style seat and cutting-edge belt drive technology. This is paired with an electric motor and lithium-ion batteries for what Royal Enfield is calling City+ range — so expect around 60-80-miles on a single charge.

It’s absolutely packed with tech, but is also tipped to offer the sort of twist-and-go ride and zero maintenance that could see it prove popular with the next generation of Royal Enfield fans. Despite a strong showing from the diehard, there’s a real buzz about the brand’s upcoming electric machines, with festival-goers clamouring to get selfies next to the bikes.

Feeding on that energy, this year’s Motoverse is used as a platform to unveil the Flying Flea S6 — a scrambler-fied version of the little electric runaround that features spoked aluminium wheels, an enduro style seat and proper suspension travel thanks to upside-down forks and an adjustable spring at the rear.

It is the first time it has been revealed on its home turf and, when the silk parachute is dropped just before Hanumankind hits the main stage, the crowd predictably goes wild. The bass line from Big Dawgs reverberates across the site, the video of which is shot in a Wall of Death, and the crowd readies itself for a night of strobe lights and sweaty dancing.

Wheelies and waterfalls

Nursing slightly sore heads, there’s no better cure for the night before than throwing a leg over the Shotgun 650 and making a beeline for Garage Cafe. We’ve only been here a few days and it already feels like a second home, revitalising with strong coffee and good food.

Motoverse spans three days, but the second is arguably the busiest, with flat-track tuition via the Slide School Cup, a gravity-defying hillclimb event and sprint races across a tight and technical dirt course.

Elsewhere across the vast, dusty site, there are trials competitions, physical challenges in a mini Hyrox event (in 32-degree heat? No thanks) and even the occasional arm-wrestling session. Despite the shenanigans of the night before, the crowd gets stuck in for a second helping.

Grammy Award-winning DJ Diplo headlines the evening’s entertainment, so we take the opportunity to split from the bustling crowds, reset and explore Goa by bike. Often referred to as “India Lite” by tourists, the tropical nirvana packs all of the culture without feeling quite as busy as other parts.

“We burn rubber back to the festival site and make it back in time for Diplo to ride onto stage”

It’s still bonkers, but tourists mix it with locals and cocktail bars line the many streets. There’s a mishmash of cuisines, including classic fish curries, but these are joined by burger shacks and pizza joints.

Some of the best places to eat and drink are hidden shacks, but this feels perfectly suited considering the white sand backdrop and plethora of palm trees. Life is dirt cheap too, with a beer costing a shade over £1 in most places.

Riding north out of Vagator, we pass deserted beaches that could easily star in a movie. Further north there are stretches that offer enticing surf, with Arambol Beach packing some of the best waves in the region, or Mandrem Beach delivering empty knee-high cruisers.

Looping back east, via a stop at an eye-poppingly cheap fuel station, we pass a handful of local waterfalls, most of which are completely dry, but apparently turn into Instagram hotspots during the monsoon seasons. If you continue east, the dusty paths turn into lush, tree-lined roads that twist and turn, hugging nature reserves and verdant landscapes.

We burn rubber back to the festival site and make it back in time for Diplo to ride onto stage, before dropping a set so ferocious, it risks the entire festival site slipping from its position perched atop a cliff, into the sea below.

Moto Polo

The Malle team brought their own brand of motorcycle-based activities to India in order to cap off an already fantastic weekend. For the first time, MotoPolo is played on an international stage, with owners and founders Robert Nightingale and Jonny Cazzola inviting some of the best riders in India to compete.

Some had ridden from as far as Ladakh in the Himalayas to be part of it, while others, it turned out, were professional circuit racers, enduro riders and motocross stars. Despite the 36-degree heat, it doesn’t take them long to get into the spirit.

As soon as the whistle blows, the customised Hunter 350 bikes are bashing into one another, as the teams attempt to punt a massive rubber ball into a goal. MotoPolo lends the sport an air of bourgeois grace and poise, but it’s really just football with motorbikes.

Royal Enfield’s chairman, Sid Lal, joins the throngs watching from the shady stands, seemingly appreciating the madness going down on the field.

Team Shroom Zoom wins the final with a gruelling 1-0 victory, but the crowd is arguably too busy laughing at Malle Mile commentator and eternally dapper chap Bruno Morris’s commentary, which is part Partridge on the sports desk, part pure piss-take. The best combination.

As the sun sets on the third night and final night of the festival, many riders can be found loading their Royal Enfield machines with tents, clothes and equipment, preparing for the lengthy journeys ahead.

Bizarrely, we will likely be back in London faster than many who had made the pilgrimage to Goa. But that’s the point. The sense of adventure is irresistible. The pull of Motoverse’s gravity is inescapable. Here’s to next year.