Royal Enfield sharpens the Guerrilla 450 formula
Royal Enfield’s Guerrilla 450 hit Australian roads late in 2024, and for 2026 the Indian manufacturer has already given the platform a sharper new twist. Dubbed the Guerrilla 450 Apex, it brings a more contemporary look, sportier stance and an even more tempting $8390 ride-away price.
While the Guerrilla has done reasonable numbers, I think it is fair to say it hasn’t quite been the roaring runaway success Royal Enfield might have hoped for in our market. The Apex brings sportier styling and ergonomics to the same basic platform, in hopes of finding a broader audience here.
This is no traditional Royal Enfield; there is no nostalgia in this platform the way there is across the 350 and 650 range; thus, it must succeed on its own merits in a deep sea of quality competition in a red-hot LAMS segment.
At first glance, particularly in red, it gives off more than a whiff of SV650. That is no bad thing. Suzuki’s middleweight stalwart earned its reputation by being simple, approachable, useful and fun, and the Guerrilla Apex leans into some of that same everyday roadster appeal.
Despite Royal Enfield’s popularity with riders young and old, it is still the heritage-based models that trade most heavily on the brand’s 125-year history, keeping dealerships busy. The main outlier in that trend is the modern generation Himalayan, which is the brand’s biggest seller outright.
The Guerrilla shares the Sherpa 450 drivetrain that debuted in the 2024 Himalayan update. Talk about economies of scale: Royal Enfield has now pumped out more than 125,000 of these engines in that short time.
That powerplant propelled the Himalayan to a whole new level of performance and sophistication, shedding the agricultural and underpowered LS410 drivetrain and ushering in a new era for the brand. It remains the only liquid-cooled engine produced by Royal Enfield.
Sherpa single brings some bite
Displacing 452 cc and making a claimed 40 horsepower at 8000 rpm and 40 Nm of torque at 5500 rpm, the Sherpa single is a willing performer and surprised me with its flexibility.
It is certainly a very different proposition to the loping 650 Twin I tested in the Bullet 650 during the same week. The single is quick-revving and lively, while the twin is a relaxed beast that wafts along with poise at the slightest opening of the throttle. The twin is the Golden Retriever, while this single is the Jack Russell.
In the city, I repeatedly let the Guerrilla drop as low as 40 km/h in fourth gear, with the engine turning only 2500 rpm, then asked it to deliver. It did so surprisingly well, digging in without complaint and propelling the bike forward quickly enough to slice through a gap in traffic or navigate the ever-changing speed zones that plague suburban Melbourne.
The gearbox worked well enough when called upon to cycle up and down the cogs quickly. 8500 rpm is available if you want to use it, but the engine performs best in the mid-range. However, there is a bit of a lull in the middle, no doubt to satisfy noise or emissions standards, and it would be interesting to see what a quality pipe and well-executed tune could unlock.
The Guerrilla will run to just over 50 km/h in first if you use all those revs, while second takes you to just over 80 km/h before requiring a shift to third. At 100 km/h in top gear, the engine is spinning around 5000 rpm and feels comfortable enough while cruising at triple digits on the highway. The dash will also subtly prompt you to shift up or down to suit the demands at hand.
A genuinely useful dash
The dash was a genuine surprise. It is a sizeable, round, four-inch TFT display, and its font proved very sharp to the eye, which means that even those of us who generally need glasses to read a restaurant menu these days can read the text easily, despite some of it being quite small.
The only real change I would like is for the speed readout to be positioned at the very top of the display, making it easier to note at a quick glance while navigating ever-changing speed zones and traffic cameras. But that is getting a bit picky, as overall the display impressed me greatly.
The TFT offers a constant fuel gauge display, while the lower inset can cycle through all manner of tripmeter functions, including distance to empty.
When connected to your phone via the Royal Enfield app, the display also offers full-screen navigation through Google Maps integration. I didn’t put this to the test, and have been told it can drain your phone’s battery quite quickly in use. Luckily, Royal Enfield provides a USB-C port on the bars as standard if you need to use the navigation functionality for extended periods. The thing I like most, is that it doesn’t require a headset for the navigation to work. Win.
Modes, manners and the urban grind
The Apex also brings ride modes to the Guerrilla party, although why you want different riding modes on a 40-horsepower single is a bit beyond me. Still, they are there for those who want them.
The bike also raises the rpm slightly as you ease out the clutch, helping reduce the risk of stalling. The Guerrilla is already pretty resistant to stalling, so it is hardly essential, but it is still a nice touch once you learn to work with it rather than against it. I seem to remember Suzuki first introducing something similar on the bike that most resembles the Guerrilla Apex, the aforementioned SV650.
The switchgear is basic and not backlit, but it works well enough. The levers are non-adjustable, but suited me fine, and the sportier rider triangle compared to the original Guerrilla still proved fairly relaxed and comfortable.
The seat also gave me no cause for complaint after what was a pretty busy full day in the saddle. We escaped the urban jungle to scythe along damp winding roads through the Dandenong Ranges, before circling back into the city amongst the peak-hour horde.
That is probably about the most likely usage scenario for this bike: urban Guerrilla warfare for the most part, with the occasional escape into the hills.
No vibrations manifested anywhere on the bike. The mirrors remained clear at pretty much all speeds, and the LED indicators, rear guard extender, etc., all stayed pretty solid and didn’t flop around on any of the bikes that I followed. This helps give the bike a quality feel.
Chassis, brakes and suspension
In a perfect world, the brakes could be a bit stronger. They work well enough in normal use, but if you start pushing the envelope, a bit more bite for less effort at the lever would be welcome. The stoppers are backed by a reasonably well-tuned ABS system, and at 185 kg, with its 11-litre fuel tank full, the Guerrilla is still light enough not to overwork the single-disc package in general road use.
The suspension works quite well. The largely hidden preload-adjustable monoshock acts on a reversed linkage and handled my bulk without complaint. The front-end also suited the bike’s easygoing character and worked well enough.
At this price point, the Showa suspension package is about as good as you can reasonably expect. The Apex also ditches the old-school fork gaiters of the original Guerrilla in favour of a more modern look.
The rims look wider than strictly necessary, which I presume is an aesthetic choice, as they give the bike quite a chunky footprint courtesy of a 120/70-17 front and 160/60-17 rear.
At 780 mm, the seat is low enough to make jumping on and off the bike a cinch. The passenger seat cowl is also nicely finished and comes standard with the bike.
A sharper take on the Guerrilla
The Guerrilla Apex is now available at Australian dealerships for $8390 ride-away, backed by Royal Enfield’s three-year warranty and roadside assistance plan.
The Apex does not radically alter the Guerrilla 450 formula, but it does bring a sharper look, a sportier stance and a bit more attitude to the platform. That should help widen its appeal.
Whether that is enough to turn the Guerrilla into a stronger player in the Australian market remains to be seen, but the Apex does make the Guerrilla feel a little more focused, a little more contemporary, and perhaps more likely to catch the eye of riders who might not naturally gravitate towards Royal Enfield’s more traditional fare.
I am not going to sit here and tell you the Apex is as dynamically competent or as thoroughly engineered as Honda’s severely underrated CB500F. It isn’t. But it is not as far away as many might expect, and brings its own points of difference to the roadster party, along with a fairly funky vibe that I think will hit the right note with plenty of younger riders.
That is perhaps the most interesting thing about the Apex. It doesn’t really look or feel like what many Australian riders have come to expect from Royal Enfield, and it can’t lean on the nostalgia card in the same way as the brand’s heritage models, which local buyers have warmed to so strongly in recent years. Instead, it steps into a far more contemporary, far more crowded LAMS roadster segment, and on this evidence Royal Enfield is serious about carving out its own niche there as well.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Apex Specifications
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Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Apex Specifications
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Engine Type
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Liquid-cooled, single cylinder, DOHC, 4 valves
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Displacement
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452 cc
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Bore x Stroke
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84 mm x 81.5 mm
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Compression Ratio
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11.5:1
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Maximum Power
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40.02 PS (29.44 kW) @ 8,000 rpm
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Maximum Torque
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40 Nm @ 5,500 rpm
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Ignition System
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Digital electronic ignition
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Fuel System
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Electronic fuel injection, 42 mm throttle body, ride-by-wire
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Lubrication
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Semi-dry sump
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Clutch
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Wet, multi-plate, slip assist (slipper clutch)
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Gearbox
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6-speed
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Engine Start
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Electric
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Frame
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Steel twin-spar tubular frame (engine as stressed member)
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Front Suspension
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Telescopic fork, 43 mm, 140 mm wheel travel
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Rear Suspension
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Linkage-type mono-shock, 150 mm wheel travel with adjustable preload
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Front Tyre
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120/70 R17
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Rear Tyre
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160/60 R17
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Front Brakes
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Hydraulic disc, 310 mm ventilated disc, double piston caliper
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Rear Brakes
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Hydraulic disc, 270 mm ventilated disc, single-piston caliper
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Brake System
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Dual channel ABS
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Ground Clearance
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169 mm
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Length
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2090 mm
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Width
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833 mm
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Height
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1125 mm (without mirrors)
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Seat Height
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780 mm
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Dry Weight
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174 kg
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Kerb Weight
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185 kg (with 90% fuel + oil)
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Fuel Capacity
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11 litres
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Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Apex Images
