Introduction
The Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 is a bike that I’ve been eager to test as a longtermer. The company’s first roadster looked quite promising after I road-tested the bike. No wonder I jumped at the opportunity to make it my longer-term after Vikrant handed it over. When I received the bike it had done a little over 250km. In the time between then and now, the odometer reads 1,350km. Almost all of those kilometres were covered in the city as the bike served as my daily means of commuting to the office. And, in all the time that I’ve spent with the bike, there is a lot that I like and a few things that I wish were better.
What’s good?
What makes the Guerrilla 450 a good commuter is its riding ergonomics. The seat-to-handlebar-to-footpeg ratio makes it a sporty yet comfortable rider’s triangle. The lack of any headlight cowl or bodywork also makes visibility a lot better, especially in the area just ahead of the front wheel. Even the seat is quite comfortable and while tackling Mumbai’s horrendous traffic for an hour and a half, my backside is never left complaining.
The other aspect of the Guerrilla 450 that I appreciate is the decent tractability offered by the engine. Stick the bike in first or second and keep the rpm around 2,000 to 3,000rpm, and it manages to chug through the traffic without any signs of protest from the engine. Also, interestingly, our long-term bike doesn’t have the jerky and unpredictable throttle response that we encountered on the bike we got during the road test.
Even the heat management is good enough for a 450cc class bike. While you do feel some of the engine heat around your feet in choc-a-bloc city traffic it never got to the point of being unbearable. I’ve also never encountered any instances of high coolant temperature warnings.
And, when the road opens up, the performance of the engine helps you overtake traffic with minimal effort. That said, this is an inherently buzzy engine at high speeds or when the rpm needle is close to the redline. However, the vibrations are far less than what I experienced on the road-test bike. Perhaps, my diligent, engine run-in phase and timely oil change when it was time to service the bike have helped.
As a city commuter, then, the Guerrilla 450 is quite adept and dealing with the demands of a city commute.
What’s not good?
But, the picture is not as rosy in some other areas. The mirrors, to begin with, are too tiny and I can’t understand why Royal Enfield has to apply the one-size-fits-all concept with its mirrors. There have been at least two to three instances on my commute where I didn’t notice someone driving behind me before I changed lanes. The mirrors simply fail to offer a good view of what is behind them. Perhaps an aftermarket solution in the form of bigger mirrors should help.
The other issue I have is with the sticky turn indicator switch and the toggle switch to cycle through the menu. I’ve to flick the indicator switch at least twice if not more, to activate the indicators. It irritates me at times and I hate the fact that I’ve to take my eye off the road for a second to check the instrument cluster to confirm that the indicators are flashing. And don’t get me started on the toggle switch. It works flawlessly at times and then there are days where I’ve to keep jabbing the button for it to register inputs.
Lastly, the ride quality of the bike is on the firm side but I’ve to say that Mumbai’s poor roads are also to be blamed. As for the tyres, they are great on a dry road but they don’t inspire a lot of confidence in the wet.
What’s next?
The Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 will continue to perform its daily duties as an office commuter. But that is not all, I will be riding the bike to the 2024 Royal Enfield Motoverse in Goa at the end of this month. This will be the first time that the bike will head out of the confines of the city and I’m looking forward to finding out how it performs on the highway and what the overall comfort is like over a day in the saddle.
Product details.
Make: Royal Enfield
Model: Guerrilla 450
Kilometres this month: 1,000km
Fuel efficiency: 28.5kmpl
Price when tested: Rs 2.54 lakh, ex-showroom
Photography by Kaustubh Gandhi
Gallery
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