This weekend the fourth edition of the AMV Green Rallye. Like every year in Château Lastours, in Francebikers who love off-road meet in an event developed without timing or competition. This not only shares its name with AMV, the motorcycle insurance specialist, but also something more essential: the passion for two wheels.
AMV, whose French acronym is “Assurance Moto Verte” and they literally mean “insurance for off-road motorcycles”, it was born more than fifty years ago with the goal of allowing riders to enjoy this passion. The same one he shared then, and continues to do so now, Franck AllardCEO and founder of the company in 1974.
AMV started insuring enduro motorcycles
In the 70s, the insurance market was made up of generalist companies that did not know well the particularities of each motorcycle practice, so they either did not insure these vehicles, or they did so by imposing very high insurance premiums. This situation slowed down the development of the enduro motorcycle market in particular and two-wheeled motorcycles in general, since the price and the difficulties in finding insurance were deterrents when purchasing a motorcycle.
Franck Allard would create AMV to solve this problem. This explains: “As an enduro fan, I was aware of how complicated it was to find insurance for this type of motorcycle. Therefore, I wanted to remedy this and create immediate specialized motorcycle insurance, with a price adjusted to the risk of this practice, to allow all fans like my friends to enjoy their passion.”
AMV began insuring enduro motorcycles, but quickly expanded its offer to all motorcycle practices, covering the needs of each type of biker. This was possible because it developed multi-criteria insurance that allowed the price to be adjusted to each client and their practice. In addition, AMV insurance responded to motorists’ demand for immediacy, allowing them to calculate the price of their insurance and contract it quickly and at any time.
Since 1974 AMV has undergone a great evolution, becoming the specialized two-wheel insurance for motorcyclists in France and, since 2003, also for those in Spain. “We started insuring the motorcycles of a small group of enduring friends and now we can say that more than 1 million customers are part of the AMV family”says Allard.
AMV Green Rallye: An event for all types of bikers
The AMV Green Rallye, like every year, delivers what it promises: a weekend of passion for motorcycles, sprinkled with a lot of mud in a unique location: the Château Lastours. Since its inception in 2023, the event has been linked to AMV, to whose group Château Lastours belongs and whose history is deeply linked to off-road.
It draws its routes through a privileged environment that witnessed the mythical Paris-Dakar since some of its prologues were developed at the Château Lastours. But, its Dakar legacy does not make it less accessible for the most amateur riders: the event is designed so that any biker can enjoy it, there is only one condition: have a trail or maxi-trail and desire to ride.
In fact, like every year, the more than 300 off-road fans who have met at the event, have been able to choose the route based on their driving level, being able to have the happy coincidence of sharing the route with a driver of the stature of Pol Tarrés.
AMV continues to treasure “the same passion for motorcycles”
From a very young age, Franck Allard has been involved in many motorsport events and AMV has been and continues to be a great support for events as relevant and with different practices as the Trèfle Lozérien AMV or the MotoGP of France. Furthermore, there are many drivers who have “grown up” with AMV, because, when they began to take their first steps, Allard decided to trust them and support their professional career.
A clear example is Stephane Peterhansel (although there are many more), who started wearing the AMV green when he had not yet won anything and ended up achieving all his successes in the Dakar wearing the AMV colors. The relationship with him and the rest of the riders was never merely commercial, AMV (and Franck Allard himself) share the same values and the same passion for motorcycles as the riders they sponsor.
This is how Pol Tarrés, AMV pilot, explains it: “AMV is not just another logo on my t-shirt or on my motorcycle, we are part of the same family, we share a passion for motorcycles and we create experiences and adventures together that excite me.” This is exactly what the AMV Green Rallye offers in the magical surroundings of Lastours: passion for off-road to those who, watching the Dakar, dreamed of crossing those mythical dunes with their motorcycles.
