Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 First Ride Review

The Looks

Now, in the looks department, the Guerrilla is quite a departure from the Royal Enfields of yore. And even though the round headlamp and instrumentation do reflect some of the RE DNA, as a whole, the motorcycle looks more like a Ducati Scrambler than an RE; particularly when viewed from the front-three-quarters. It is an agreeable design - well-proportioned and easy on the eye. It’s also big. So, for those looking for road presence, the GRR (RE is also calling it that) certainly fits the bill.

However, it lacks good paint schemes. Lately, be it the 650 Twins, the Hunter 350, and even the Himalayan 450 to a degree, Royal Enfield has nailed it with some fantastic paint schemes. The paint schemes on the Guerrilla are unique, but they lack instant appeal. And I believe, it takes away from the motorcycle’s appeal somewhat.

The Package

As mentioned, the GRR 450 shares its engine and chassis with the Himalayan. The engine is in the same tune as the latter, and the six-speed gearbox remains unchanged. RE engineers have reworked the throttle response and changed the final gearing, nonetheless. The rear sub-frame is new too, to go along with the roadster design. As is clear in the images, the GRR runs smaller 17-inch wheels front and rear compared to the 21-17 setup on the Himalayan. Changes have been made to the suspension too. The front is now a 140mm-stroke telescopic fork, while the rear - even though still a linked monoshock design - now has a reduced stroke value of 150mm. Braking hardware, however, remains similar.

Not much has changed in terms of features either. The Guerrilla continues to feature dual-channel ABS. But, like the Himalayan, there’s no traction control or adjustable levers or a quickshifter. There are many GMA or Genuine Motorcycle Accessories to choose from, nonetheless. There is however one big change. The colour TFT display might be similar to the Himalayan, but it gets an additional feature on GRR. It now allows the rider to record the route he or she is taking and then transfer it to their smartphone for easy sharing. It works the other way around too. So, if you have a recorded route on your phone, you can send it to the console and use it for navigation.

And lest we forget, because the Guerrilla 450 uses alloy wheels and not spoke rims, it gets tubeless tyres, which are easily the widest in class.

The Ride

The Guerrilla weighs 185kg. So, it's not light. It also has a long wheelbase; it measures 1440mm compared to the Speed 400's 1377mm. On paper then, the Guerrilla should be lazy, ponderous, and a lot of work around a winding road. But, it isn't.

The 17-inch wheels and the sharp steering geometry make it eager and willing to drop into corners. It also holds its line with nary a weave or twitch feeling reassuring even with the pegs scraping. One can certainly feel the heft and length of the bike through quick direction changes and hard braking. But it is nowhere near what it says on the spec sheet. The Guerrilla is an involving, stable, and willing motorcycle on the twisties till you don't dial up the riding to 10. Once you do, physics begins to tap on your shoulder to dial it down.

A little bit about the Ceat tyres before we move on. These have the typical XL on/off-road tread patterns that we have seen on the Himalayan and the Xpulse. But, let the tread pattern not fool you because their grip level on the tarmac was pretty impressive. These offered a good feel too, building confidence when leaned over. Plus, they weren't easily overwhelmed under hard braking. How these deal with concrete roads and rain remains to be seen, however. Braking, in the meantime, remains impressive, much like on the Himalayan.

Now, the roads in and around Barcelona were super smooth. So, it wasn't easy to get a clear picture of the ride comfort of the motorcycle. But, the odd dip, manhole cover, and sharp-edged speed breaker we encountered clearly conveyed that the Guerrilla isn't going to score high on comfort over bad roads. I might be proven wrong once we ride the bike in Mumbai, but that's a story for another day.

As for the engine and gearbox, like the Himalayan, the gearbox shifts are light, precise, and predictable. The engine too remains refined up to 5,000rpm. Post that, one can feel the vibrations quite clearly. But, with the revised throttle response, the Guerrilla seems more eager to push forward than the Himalayan. It’s not jerky or snatchy and feels more like a quick throttle. So, less twisting of the wrist gives you a higher turn of speed. It’s something that goes well with this flavour of bike.

The Verdict

The Guerrilla 450 is a good motorcycle. But then we expected that since it is based on the Himalayan. It has comfortable seating egos, it is quick, it handles and brakes well, and it looks nice too, especially in smoked silver. However, it comes into a segment that’s packed with competition and RE needed to offer a unique and enticing proposition. The Guerrilla fails to do that. Be it the lacklustre colourways, confused product positioning, or the lack of USPs, the Guerrilla clearly has an uphill task when it comes to making a dent in the segment.