Royal Enfield is basking on the glory of its latest launch— the Guerilla 450 which made its debut last week. Based on the Sherpa 450 platform which also underpins Himlayan 450. Enfield says Guerilla 450 is a road-biased roadster. While it was being tested on the roads over the past one year, the spy images gave us an impression of it being a scrambler.
Royal Enfield Guerilla 450: What makes it a roadster?
So the question arises what makes the Guerilla a roadster and not a scrambler? The correct definition of a roadster is a road-biased motorcycle primarily intended for leisure riding with comfortable ergonomics mostly ridden within city confines but also occasionally ridden in highways. To simplify it, roadsters are an extension of commuter bikes with slight sportier intent and long distance rideability.
In this regard, the Guerilla 450 perfectly fits the bill with comfortable riding ergonomics featuring a low and accessible saddle of 780mm with generous real estate, centre-set footpegs, and widish handlebars giving it a slightly sporty yet not fully committed riding stance. Further, the travel on the Guerilla’s suspension is limited to 140mm and 150mm at front and rear, respectively.
The only scrambler attribute that Guerilla 450 possesses are its dual-purpose semi-knobby tyres which can support some level of soft-roading, even though it runs on alloy wheels. On the other hand, scramblers are also road-biased motorcycles which have more than decent off-roading capabilities. And if the rider is skilled enough, he/she can even do a bit of trail bashing in a capable scrambler.
A perfect example is the Royal Enfield Scram 411 which is based on the older-gen Himalayan 411. The Scram 411 is a typical scrambler which isn’t hardcore adventure tourer yet very much capable of soft and mild off-roading. It gets a larger 19-inch front spoked wheel as opposed to the 17-inch alloy offered in Guerilla. Further, the suspension travel on Scram is 190mm and 180mm at front and rear, respectively.
Royal Enfield Guerilla 450: Specs & Price
Powering the Guerilla 450 is a 452 cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder Sherpa engine with an output of 39.5 bhp at 8,000 rpm and 40 Nm at 5,500 rpm. This engine is paired with a 6-speed gearbox via a slip and assist clutch. The roadster has two ride modes — Performance and Eco — to go with a ride-by-wire throttle.
Royal Enfield is offering three trims of Guerilla 450 namely Analogue, Dash, and Flash, priced at Rs 2.39 lakh, Rs 2.49 lakh, and Rs 2.54 lakh (all prices ex-showroom), respectively.