Royal Enfield has been known to tune their motors differently for each motorcycle, and the Guerrilla receives a more aggressive tune as compared to the Himalayan.
Riding the Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450
The Guerrilla 450 is powered by a 452 cc single cylinder, 4 stroke, DOHC, liquid-cooled motor first seen on the second generation Himalayan – christened the ‘Sherpa’. This engine produces 39.5 BHP @ 8,000 rpm and 40 Nm torque @ 5,500 rpm:
This motor is also the first-ever liquid-cooled engine from Royal Enfield. Featuring a compression ratio of 11.5:1 and coupled to a 6-speed gearbox and slip & assist clutch – the powertrain is competitive on paper against modern competition from Triumph and KTM. Traditionally, Royal Enfields have been known for their long-stroke motors but shockingly – the Sherpa motor is square, bordering on short stroke! Featuring an 84 mm bore and an 81.5 mm stroke – Royal Enfield claims that this motor has been tuned to produce torque all the way from ~2500 rpm to 8000 rpm. Royal Enfield has been known to tune their motors differently for each motorcycle, and the Guerrilla receives a more aggressive tune as compared to the Himalayan. Moreover, the sprocket has also been revised to compensate for the different tyre sizes and bring the overall gearing similar to the ADV. Whereas the linear power delivery of the Himalayan masks the feel of the actual performance on offer, the Guerrilla feels much more eager from 3000 rpm onwards.
The laws of physics can’t be so easily overcome and the new Guerrilla 450 falls seriously short of the low-end torque pull of the earlier generation long-stroke RE motors. Releasing the clutch off idle, the bike crawls forward at 10 km/h, but it feels strained and prepared to stall at the hint of an obstacle. You may need a slight throttle and clutch play when moving from idle in 1st. Similarly in 2nd and 3rd gears as well, the bike will pull forward at 17 km/h and 20 km/h respectively without any accelerator inputs, although making its disapproval known quite audibly. This motorcycle is just not happy below 2,000 rpm and if you are used to the older Enfields, relearn your habits. Period.
Above 2,000 rpm, the violent disapproval turns to one of submission and from 2,000 to 3,000 rpm it feels like the bike has accepted the reality that it needs to get a move on. The first hint of real life comes at 3,000 rpm which is a sweet spot for sedate city use. This also makes the bike a bit too technical for the newbies, asking you to constantly shift to the torquey mid-range and etching you to get a move on. Unlike the linear torque wave on the Himalayan, the Guerrilla gets a nice torque surge above 3,500 rpm onwards to 7,000 rpm and brings a much wider grin on your face. Keep the bike in this rpm range and the progress is fast, capable of giving the men in orange a run for their money. Even though the peak power is delivered close to the redline at 8,000 rpm, it feels the most exciting when kept below 7,000. The motor, although free-revving, lacks the mad top-end rush that the rival is known for! The rpm needle starts flashing red post 9,000 rpm.
Not sure if it is just our test bike, but the first gear feels very muted – almost as if the map defaults to the ECO mode in 1st. Upon shifting to 2nd you will be pleasantly surprised by the added torque surge on offer. Whacking the throttle open in 2nd and 3rd gears can be quite addictive.
The bike shares its expressway cruising abilities with the Himalayan, and both 80 km/h and 100 km/h come up in the meat of the torque band, i.e. at 4,000 rpm and 5,000 rpm respectively in 6th gear. However, being a roadster – you are always fighting windblast on the highways and naturally tend to settle down between 95-105 km/h, which is the sweet spot to compromise between speed and comfort.
The gear shifts are much improved compared to the Himalayan and feels positive to click into slots. I had the occasional protests from the gearbox when shifting from 1st to 2nd – but all of the other shifts were handled gracefully. Clutch action is decently light and doesn’t make the city commutes cumbersome.
Riding Modes
Two riding modes are available:
The ride mode can be viewed and changed by pressing the “M” button on the RHS switchgear. ECO mode is interesting as it reduces the power output of the first 4 gears. Royal Enfield claims that the power delivery in ECO mode is reminiscent of the original 411 motor. I found the ECO mode to be useful in city usage and it also helps deliver better fuel efficiency.
While the 4-gears thought process is a bit interesting on paper, I found the logic to be slightly flawed in the highway scenario. For example, you accelerate your way progressively through the first 4 gears and slot into 5th and 6th, the motor feels like the restraints have been removed and it starts performing with the full vigour of a 40 BHP motorcycle in these two gears. However, suppose you have to brake and downshift into 4th or 3rd and then try to pull off with the same eagerness – you suddenly are dealing with a ~ 25 BHP motorcycle once again! That somehow felt more of a buzzkill to me than having all 6 gears in a low-power map for ECO mode.
It would be better to consider the ECO mode as a beginner mode – as the Guerrilla has a lot of grunt in the lower gears for a beginner to be comfortable in the initial days.
Refinement & NVH
Once again, the laws of physics raise their ugly head. With a large single-cylinder motor, vibrations are present throughout the revv-range. Royal Enfield has burned the midnight oil since the Himalayan came out and the motor feels more refined than we last experienced in the adventure format. This feeling of better refinement is also aided by the fact that windblasts at highway speeds also take your attention from the vibrations ever-so-slightly for it to become less of a bother.
As with the Himalayan – I could not identify a particular rpm in which vibrations came on or went off. They were a constant companion. Most of the time, a buzz can be felt on the tank, seat and footpegs. Thankfully, no resonance was experienced at any rpm range and it doesn’t get harsh enough to restrict revvs, which means the vibrations are not a deal-breaker for me, but certainly not dismissible either.
Coming to the exhaust note, gone is the bassy, lazy, long-stroke exhaust note of the old Royal Enfields. While riding the motorcycle, you could confuse it for a Hero or KTM depending on the throttle inputs. The only saving grace is a generous dollop of pops and rumbles from the exhaust when closing the throttle off.
I suspect the new tune given to the Guerrilla as compared to the Himalayan has resulted in the roadster running hotter. The radiator fan was being kept unexpectedly busy even on rainy and cold Bangalore days, way more than I remember with the Himalayan. There is a draft of hot air felt on the shin area whenever the fan turns on, which wasn’t a problem in Bangalore. However, summer performance needs to be monitored on our ownership reports, especially in cities with hotter climates.
Suspension & Handling
Suspension duties are handled by Showa, but the Guerrilla does not get the highly-acclaimed USD forks from the Himalayan. Instead, this roadster rides on 43 mm Telescopic forks and a monoshock suspension at the rear from Showa.
Starting from idle, you notice a slight inherent stiffness in the suspension, but not cumbersome in the city by any means. Once you get to city speeds, the suspension starts exhibiting good composure, dismissing some of the smaller potholes with authority and completely ignoring the rough patches of concrete on the road. At these speeds, it is hard to find fault with this suspension setup.
The problem comes when you push the suspension further to its limits, either with higher speeds or larger potholes. The more basic hardware setup becomes evident and the bike gives an unexpected jolt when pushed into some of the harder stuff. Although a roadster is not expected to hammer through potholes as an adventure would, I felt the transition towards the limits was not very progressive. The bike took me by surprise by feeling plush at some stuff and then crashing into some of the slightly bigger stuff.
The Guerrilla 450 has a rather long wheelbase of 1,440 mm, which lends it good straight-line stability. Royal Enfield has compensated by giving this roadster a much steeper rake (by 4 degrees as compared to the Himalayan) to bring in a faster steering geometry.
The Guerrilla is a heavy motorcycle on paper at 184 kg, but the weight is very well masked. At city speeds – it belies the weight numbers on the spec sheets and most users would not have much complaints riding it through traffic. However, the front end starts feeling heavier once the speeds climb. Could be due to the fat tyres and the slightly odd thread patterns. The bike does take some effort to tip it into the corner, but once in – the bike maintains the line through corners despite slight mid-corner undulations.
Braking
Braking duties are handled by ByBRE, Brembo’s budget brand, which has now become the mainstay of most bikes in the segment. The setup consists of a 310 mm ventilated disc up front with double-piston calipers and a 270 mm ventilated disc at the rear with a single-piston caliper. Dual-channel ABS comes standard.
Overall the setup is excellent and performs the job efficiently.
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