In Pictures: Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Review
Royal Enfield’s neo-retro roadster, the Guerrilla 450, has finally been launched and we got to ride it. Here’s an in-depth review of the bike in detailed pictures.
After plenty of speculation and spy shots, the Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 is here. The Guerrilla 450 is based on the same 452cc platform as its ADV cousin the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450. While it shares the same engine, the neo-retro roadster gets a few tweaks to make it a more road-focused bike, which many people will find more accessible. We got a chance to ride it and here’s what we think about the bike.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450’s Design
In the flesh, the Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 looks like a serious roadster. It shares a couple of design elements and parts with the Himalayan 450 like the LED headlight without the windshield, which is positioned lower on the roadster. The Guerrilla 450 features a sleek front end, a smaller and flatter 11-litre fuel tank, and the absence of luggage racks, which adds to its aesthetic appeal. It also borrows the centre and side panels from its ADV cousin but this one comes in more eye-catching bright colours. It comes in 5 attractive colours, Smoke Silver, Gold Dip, Playa Black, Yellow Ribbon and Brava Blue. Overall, the bike looks really good with a proper neo-retro aesthetic that makes it stand out from the crowd.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450’s Engine, Performance and Mileage
The Guerrilla 450 is powered by the same liquid-cooled single-cylinder 452cc Sherpa engine as seen in the Himalayan 450. It makes the same power and torque figures i.e. 40.02 PS @ 8000rpm and 40 Nm @ 5500rpm. However, the roadster gets a different throttle mapping from the ADV. It starts off linear and gets aggressive as you open up the throttle. This makes it a lot more fun and encourages you to keep the bike in the higher rpm range. With the Guerrilla 450 weighing 11kg lighter than the Himalayan 450, we believe it will be quicker in doing 0 to 100kmph. The Himalayan 450 already feels pretty punchy and quick doing 0-100kmph in 6.9 seconds in our road test.
The Guerrilla 450 gets a 6-speed gearbox which is paired with a smaller 45-tooth sprocket which gives a better performance in the higher rpm range. The engine feels refined even while cruising on 100kmph @ around 5000rpm. While the motor is mostly smooth, vibrations can be felt in the initial rpm range and some buzz on the higher side. The bike delivers a claimed fuel economy of 29.5kmpl in the World Motorcycle Test Cycle (WMTC).
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450’s Handling, Braking and Ride Quality
In terms of handling the Guerrilla 450 feels nimble to ride and tips into corners fairly easily, thanks to its shorter wheelbase compared to the Himalayan 450 and its wide 120/70 R17 front and 160/60 R17 rear tyres. Overall, the bike offers a confidence-inspiring ride. The braking department does a decent job and provides sufficient stopping power when the brakes are fully applied. The bike is equipped with a 43mm telescopic fork and a linked preload-adjustable monoshock, giving sporty feedback but it isn’t too hard. Considering it is a roadster the 169mm of ground clearance on offer is enough too.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450’s Comfort
The Guerrilla isn’t a lightweight bike, it has a kerb weight of 184kg. Having said that, the bike can still be managed easily. Its impressively low seat height of 780mm along with the bike’s narrow profile will even let shorter riders that aren’t confident on taller bikes feel at home and ride comfortably.
Being a roadster-style bike, it gets rear-set footpegs and a lower-positioned handlebar. This lets the rider sit in an aggressive position and push hard while sitting upright for daily commuting. The single-piece seat is well-designed and can easily accommodate large or tall riders.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450’s Features
The Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 is packed with plenty of features. The Flash and Dash-top variants are equipped with a 4-inch TFT console with smartphone connectivity via Bluetooth for calls/SMS alerts and Google Maps Navigation. The Analogue-base variant gets a simpler semi-digital instrument cluster with no smartphone connectivity features. However, if you want turn-by-turn navigation, you can opt for the Tripper Pod from Royal Enfield. The bike gets two riding modes: Performance and Eco, across all variants which change the throttle response. Along with that the bike also gets a USB Type-C charger under the handlebar.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450’s Variants
The Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 is available in three variants. The base variant, Analogue is available in Smoke Silver and Playa Black Analogue colours and is priced at Rs 2,39,000 (all prices ex-showroom). The mid-variant, Dash is available in Gold Dip and Playa Black Dash colours and is priced at Rs 2,49,000. The top variant, Flash is available in Brava Blue and Yellow Ribbon colours coming at a price tag of Rs 2,54,000.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450’s Verdict
The Guerrilla 450 is priced between Rs 2,39,000 and Rs 2,54,000, which makes it a very well-packaged neo-retro roadster. The bike feels very approachable with a low seat height and a smooth engine with linear power delivery. It is friendly to novice riders while being fun for experienced ones. It rivals the likes of the Harley-Davidson X440 and the Triumph Speed 400. Overall, it is a practical buy for someone looking for a retro-styled bike with modern attributes making for highway riding and daily commuting fun.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 User Reviews
- good condition and nice looksExcellent bike and this bike give more comfortable while driving long journey, and also bike suspensions are so good at village roads, it feels like going on highway, the head light drl so good at night time, that speedometer design also very unique in this bike, too honestly i'm satisfied with this awesome bike.Read More1
- Its amazing. Dont think too much, just get oneIt is a beautiful bike- that never feels boring. The acceleration is undefeatable! and while it is sporty, it is surprisingly practical too. It's neither too heavy nor too tall, unlike the Himalayan. Its an absolute attention grabber and I love the colour I chose (brava blue). To sum it up- I chose this bike because it was beautiful, it was fast and it seemed practical enough for my use. I use this bike as my daily, and it has never failed me. It feels stable, planted, easy to manage. It always feels like i'm in control, I have not had a feeling of anxiety that it'll wobble, slip or be uncontrollable even once that I have ridden this bike even on high speeds. The fat rear tyre makes me confident even in rain. the feels grippy even on wet roads, loose gravel- though the bike did splash water on my back in rain, I just got the rear mudguard extender from Enfield and now it's not a problem, though I believe it should've been company fitted. The suspensions are comfortable for daily use, and even in Ghaziabad's bumpy roads I almost do not feel a thing. The engine yearns to red line, the bike wants to go fast and I love it every time I pull the throttle. The mileage is reasonable, with 25 on normal city commute (in power mode, using eco mode pushes that up to around 28. I can manage to get 32 if I ride carefully, maintaining gears to keep the engine at 4-5k rpm and not pulling the throttle/ yanking the breaks unnecessarily) It does get hot in the summers, but honestly I can smell the engine getting hot more than I feel it. Its hard to explain really, but hot air does not blow on my leg when riding so that's good, occasionally the win direction may align and the hot air may blow onto your face- but again thats rare. I am a bit conflicted on highway rides, because it is fun to ride on the highway, but the seat does make your buns feel sore after a while, but its manageable. highway mileage is around 28-29 in power mode, and around 30-32 in eco mode. I would recommend this bike everybody over any other bikes in this segment (except the adv tourers, if you can manage them ofcourse). Anyone can buy this bike if i'm being honest, Its fun, its not tall, its not heavy, its not too expensive to maintain, the breaks are reliable, Its stable, the riding posture is good, and its not scary to ride. you connect with the bike in the first ride. I love it, and i'm pretty sure you'll love it too. just go for it.Read More3 4
- One of the best bikes in segment!!!!I chose this because it's different from classic royal enfield bikes, it has better performance for city riding lighter weight, excellent acceleration a balanced bike with 450cc engine, ideal for smooth city riding and some adventure too just love it. My experience with this bike is lovely, it's my 2nd bike earlier I owned 125cc upgrading to 450cc just feels magical it offers smooth riding with enough torque and power to gap almost every vehicle on road. I like it's fast acceleration it offers a whole different experience for royal enfield bikes. Yes absolutely, I would recommend you to buy this if you are looking for 450cc segment than this is the best bikes, ngl ideally for daily riding or even if you want to ride on hilly areas it offers a smooth experience 40N/m torque will let you experience dominance on road.Read More4 2
- This is a great bike which never disappoint riderI was looking perfect combo of performance and the retro look of royal enfield. That's when I came accross this bike guerilla 450 a perfect combination of style, performance, looks, features. If someone is looking for an upgrade they must consider it. Pros that the power of 40 bhp can be actually feel while riding the initial pull on second gear and the bike goes insanely fast.this bike also got full tft display which several useful features such as navigation, etc cons of this bikes are its has low mileage as it's 450 but it also got lower fuel tank capacity which leads to frequent fuel stops. the initial low end torque of all the gears except 1st gear is way less. If someone is trying to upgrade their bike from 200 or 350 cc they must give it a try.This bike never disappoints in terms of performance, style and road presence. except for its lower mileage and less fuel capacity this bike is really worth the priceRead More6 2
- Guerrilla RiderBest modern roadster with comfort and power mixture and also with 450 power full engine with good mileage I get very happy after riding this bike full fun to ride bike i just want to say that this bike is full pocket rocket he kill his all compatitor IF you like it not more think just take ride and book it and get you beat bikeRead More5 3
