As the bike rolled down the ramp, I started asking questions. Panniers? Who puts panniers on a 450cc urban slice-and-dicer? What do I need those for? Oh, they are removable. That’s cool. But waterproof panniers? Am I turning into my dad?
Two days later I’m coming back into town through the wild Northern suburbs of London. It’s very cold, very wet, and very dark. The roads are slick and twisted. The potholes loom out of the darkness like little nightmares. This is not a situation you really want to be in. The Guerrilla rumbles away patiently as I pull up on an abandoned suburban street packed with silent, expensive houses. As the rain gets even worse, I pull my waterproofs out of my much maligned pannier. Salvation. I put them on hastily. Warmth envelops me. Now I’m waterproof, windproof, and ready to take on the world. An urban scrapper back in fighting shape. Just like my Royal Enfield.
I kick the the bike into gear and rip down the road. Feels good. I wind out the throttle. Feels even better. Now I’m standing on the pegs like it’s an enduro, laughing. The Guerrilla is nimble, light, flickable. It surges through green lights and around sleepy cars, around speed bumps and through puddles. Nature can’t stop me, traffic is nothing, the city is mine again. I’m getting home in one piece.
There’s a theme to what Royal Enfield have been doing lately. Not only have they been coming out with bikes that people really want; they’ve been making the sort of motorcycles people really need. Bikes that capture something of the essence of what got us all into this slightly strange hobby in the first place. Don’t tell me that pulling on all that safety kit for a good forecast is fun. Or that weaving your way through town traffic just to get a taste of country road isn’t a proper bore. We persist because we know it’s worth it. And we deserve machines that are worth it.
The formula is obvious. The market needs nimble, inexpensive motorcycles with charm and character, with thoughtful engineering and design driven by one goal: make motorcycling fun, thrilling, memorable, and gutturally satisfying. Take what we know works, the best of the past, and sell it to us again. Give us practical, patient, customer-focused motorcycling at a price you simply can’t ignore. Look out into the market and it’s been Japanese manufacturers carrying the flame. Until now. Because it’s India’s turn. There’s a good reason why, when you go down to the Bike Shed or Rykas these days, the names you’re hearing on the wind are Continental GT, Himalayan, Meteor, and now this – the Guerrilla.
Developed alongside the new Himalayan 450, the Guerrilla is a snappy urban roadster for those who need a city bike that has enough poke to make national speed limits just about manageable. It’s a warm invite from Royal Enfield in a market responding to the back-to-basics demands of riders old and new, joining the likes of the Triumph Speed 400, Yamaha MT-03 and KTM Duke 390. The Guerrilla’s unique pitch is that it takes Royal Enfield’s unmistakeable retro charms and gives them a novel twist. Just cool enough to be unique, but modern enough to pass as a serious bike.
Spending time with the Guerrilla 450 feels like spending time with a good friend. You trust and understand each other immediately. It’s a whippy, easily managed motorbike, with a comfortable riding position, forgiving kerb weight of 184kg and excellent balance. It feels supple around town and in the countryside, and is equally at home picking its way through traffic as it is on a long winding road. Between your legs burbles Royal Enfield’s new Sherpa engine, a 452cc liquid-cooled single cylinder unit shared with the new Himalayan adventure bike. It sounds great, and is addictively frothy, encouraging you always to be in the naughty parts of the power band. If you mess up, you get the disappointed clacking of an engine telling you off for not trying hard enough.
That’s one of the special things about this roadster. It’s just got an attitude about it that defies its middleweight capacity. It looks purposeful and rides like it. You can get through the urban sprawl easily and quickly, and look good while doing so. It actively encourages having a good time. But it’s not a compromise with practicality. Our test bike actually came with a side of everything. Waterproof panniers, belly pan, bar-end mirrors, headlight cowling, radiator cover and a very comfortable seat upgrade. Yeah, I like my bikes like my fries – animal style.
Also in the sense that I dont know what else you could possibly throw at it… a USB-C socket? A cool digital dash? Little scrambler-like socks on the front forks? Go for it. You even get onboard navigation with the Royal Enfield Tripper app, if you’re willing to put your phone away for once. So it’s fair to say that from boy racer to proto-courier, Royal Enfield have thought hard about how to make your Guerrilla campaign a success. Top marks for that.
Some reviewers quite uncharitably describe lower-cc motorbikes such as the Guerrilla as something for young riders, restricted licences, or inexperienced riders. I have to take a stand here and say that is complete rubbish. Yes, a large displacement motorcycle is a magnificent thing – in the right context. There is a reason your sports bike and cruiser are always bested in the urban filtering, quick U-turn, oh-that-looks-fun scenarios by hooligans on 125s. For riding around town and being a bit cheeky without consequence, you don’t want or need all that power. You don’t want to be best friends with the petrol station cashier. You need something nimble, light, fuel efficient, a bit spunky, with badass looks and unique colour schemes.
Enter the man from Royal Enfield, who looks at you and says – mate, it’s obvious: you need a Guerrilla 450. And I can’t really disagree. This is a bike that is about as easy to ride as it gets, and for all the motorcycle reviews that go on about getting your knee down in canyons (you know, our famous British canyons), there’s a severe lack of focus on what your average rider really cares about.
So I can tell you straight – this is exactly the sort of bike you want if heavy, overly powerful, overly expensive roadsters aren’t your bag but you still want something affordable, fun, and cool. You’re not going to be worried about insurance renewals, the upfront cost of less than £5k, or leaving it locked up in town seeing your friends. It doesn’t require a day out to enjoy properly, and doesn’t leave you fatigued after an entire day’s riding.
We need bikes like this these days. The hobby has some really high barriers to entry in terms of bang-for-buck. The Guerrilla 450 is an example of a machine doing its best to right that balance. Royal Enfield’s marketing talks about a motorcycle that is ‘kinetic, intuitive and eager to play’, engineered to deliver ‘pure, primal fun’. The promo videos feature some handsome young men and women speeding about, having a good time. It’s easy to be cynical sometimes, but I think this is the kind of attitude we need more of. In a world where motorcycle forums echo with young riders asking why everyone on bikes is so, like, old and gnarly, we should welcome bikes like the Guerrilla. Not just for their specs, but for what they represent. It’s the pure, addictive essence of what makes two wheels good, and is worth your attention.
So give me that helmet. We’re hitting the streets.
Photography by Luke Koch de Gooreynd at Collective Lines (also on Instagram at @collective_lines_)