Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 (2024 – ) review

While it shares a platform and the new Sherpa 450 engine with the Himalayan the Guerrilla 450 takes them in a dramatic new direction. Sure, the single-cylinder roadster format is well established and there’s plenty of choice, be that the impressive Triumph Speed 400 or more modern looking alternatives like the KTM Duke 390 or Yamaha MT-03. But the Enfield undercuts them all on price while nudging right up against the A2 licence power limit, successfully riffing on the brand’s retro roots in the more subdued colour schemes while offering a more contemporary look in louder options like the Yellow Ribbon combo seen here. The bike underneath remains the same whichever you go for but the fact something as simple as paint schemes can make it appeal to both trad Royal Enfield fans and a younger crowd is impressive. If we’re being picky we’d say the conventional forks perhaps look a little old-school compared with the more modern looking upside-down ones on many rival bikes but these and the chunky tread on the seemingly dual-purpose tyres were deliberate aesthetic choices made early on in the bike’s development.

While some may dismiss single-cylinder machines like this as ‘small bikes’ the Guerrilla 450 won’t look too toy-like under a bigger rider. At the same time the relatively low seat and impressively narrow frame make it confidence inspiring for beginners and shorter riders alike. As standard the seat is 780mm but there’s a higher, bench style option available as part of the Flat Track pack which should help taller riders avoid feeling too scrunched up when seated, though potentially at the cost of plushness. While longer and lower in reach than the Himalayan with its off-road stance and bigger front wheel, the Guerrilla is still relatively short and upright, the bars having a relatively high rise. On a mixed day of riding along busy city streets and out in the twisties it felt a good all-round compromise, and we finished the day without any significant aches or pains.

Whatever roots it shares with the Himalayan the Guerrilla – quite obviously – has a lot less in the way of bodywork given its very different purpose. So, as it comes there’s nothing in the way of weather protection and the whole riding experience is as pared back as the looks suggest. That’s not to say it’s completely impractical, the seat a decent size and pegs and grab handles for a pillion included as standard. New bike or not, Royal Enfield has also created an extensive range of accessories available from the start, these including things like engine protection bars, a fly screen, soft panniers and more besides. If not a bike for racking up big distances like its adventure bike relative it can certainly be turned into a useful commuter or weekend bike as suits your needs.

The 452cc liquid-cooled single at the heart of the Guerrilla is a big departure for Royal Enfield, and a significant upgrade on the wheezy air-cooled 350s. 40 horsepower is near enough double what you get from a Hunter 350 and on the money to compete with the Triumph, Husqvarna and more aggressive looking alternatives like the KTM Duke 390 and Yamaha MT-03, the chunky 40Nm torque output there across a broad spread of engine speeds. Ride-by-wire is another carry-over from the Himalayan and the difference between the standard and sportier throttle maps is more significant, the sound also throatier thanks to more noticeable induction noise from the under-tank airbox. There is, inevitably, a bit of single-cylinder buzz at higher revs but we’ll mark it down as characterful rather than annoying and the Guerrilla pulls with real enthusiasm, with plenty of zest for city cut and thrust and tighter, twistier roads alike. The novelty might wear off on faster roads or motorways but, in fairness, that’s not what it’s built for. A pleasingly mechanical action to the six-speed gearbox helps, likewise the light clutch. The single ‘budget Brembo’ ByBre front disc has reasonable bite at the lever but needs a good squeeze if you’re really on it, the larger than average rear brake playing a bigger part than usual.

A shorter swingarm and wheelbase than the Himalayan and the sportier riding position help make the Guerrilla feel much more chuckable in the corners, the only downside being the extra kilos the bike carries over some of its rivals. It hides them well, though, tipping into corners enthusiastically and nicely chuckable on the twisty Spanish backroads we tested it on. Supplied by Showa, the trad looking forks are thankfully a cut above the similar looking ones on the Interceptor and Continental GT, supporting the front end properly rather than diving through their travel the moment you get on the brakes. They’re combined with a linkage-driven monoshock at the back, the perfectly smooth roads we rode on not presenting much of a challenge here. Deliberately bouncing over a few speed humps along the way suggests a reasonable amount of compliance, though. We’d love to test the Guerrilla back-to-back with a Triumph Speed 400 but credit to Royal Enfield it's even being talked about in the same breath, the clearly extensive testing settling on a set-up simultaneously capable of inspiring confidence in new riders and big grins on the faces of more experienced ones.

A starting price of less than five-grand drew gasps when Royal Enfield announced it at the launch event and undercuts all the obvious rivals, Triumph Speed 400 included. So, the Guerrilla is cheap to buy in the Royal Enfield style. That should help with things like insurance costs, the smaller engine and modest power likewise helping new riders on that score. The bike should also be pretty light on fuel, tyres, brakes and other consumables.

“Fix it with a hammer” simplicity has always been an appealing part of the Royal Enfield image but this new Sherpa 450 engine is a more modern affair, with the added complexity of liquid cooling, ride by wire electronics and all that comes with it. As we write it’s also very new, having only just been introduced on the Himalayan. Royal Enfield has poured a lot of development time and resource into it, though, so we’ll hope that pays off and it proves as dependable as its simpler bikes. For now we’ll call this a holding score.

Given the newness of the engine and platform the three-year, unlimited mileage manufacturer warranty is a helpful reassurance, and unless advised otherwise we’ll work on the assumption the service intervals are the same 6,000 miles/annual as the Himalayan. Like most Royal Enfields the Guerrilla also comes as standard with a centre stand, which might not look ‘cool’ on a supposedly modern bike but makes regular home maintenance like cleaning and oiling the chain a lot easier, cast type wheels also easier to clean than wire ones. Three cheers for both!

Royal Enfield may feel like an old-school brand but with its Tripper system is further along the road of app-enabled connectivity than you might expect. Like the Himalayan it presents this via a neat, circular TFT screen through which you can run navigation, calls, music and the rest having Bluetoothed your phone to the bike with a simple code. Or, at least, if you have an Android handset, the Google-powered system apparently happier talking to these than an old iPhone like the one we tried to pair. Having sat through a long briefing on how brilliant the system is it was a little frustrating we couldn’t get it to work, though expectations were measured given previous experience of it chewing through the phone battery (and data) on the Himalayan and the app’s Google Maps powered navigation not functioning with the more basic Tripper system on a Shotgun 650 we had in on test at the same time. Good news? You don’t have to have your phone connected to enjoy the bike, the basic spec giving you some budget to accessorise the Guerrilla with a few choice bits and still undercut most of the rivals it’s up against.

Price will probably be the first motivation for choosing the Guerrilla 450, the fact Royal Enfield has beaten the Speed 400 at its own game here an impressive effort. In fairness the Guerrilla can’t quite match the Triumph in its finish or attention to detail but it’s a big step up from previous Royal Enfields and more than good enough for the price. That’s before you factor in how well it rides as well, the Guerrilla nailing the objective of opening the brand to a new audience without forgetting the loyal one already in place. Cheap and cheerful is often used as a pejorative term but, in this case, it’s been turned into something very positive indeed, the Guerrilla celebrating its ability to be both.