There’s something to be said about a bike that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the 2025 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 is just that. Near hooligan fun starting from just £4,850…
What is it? | 2025 Royal Enfield Guerilla Looks & Styling
Now, of course, looks are subjective, but I think we can all mostly agree that the Guerrilla doesn’t particularly fit well into any clear, defined category. Royal Enfield markets it as a roadster, but it also has an edge of scrambler or flat tracker about it with the design, tyres and riding position in my opinion.
Whatever it is, though, I think it looks fantastic and has a proper edge to its styling, unlike other Enfields that are currently made, anyway, that tend to typically lean more into the classic, adventure or retro scene.
In terms of colours, we currently get five colourways in the form of Smoke Silver, Playa Black, Peix Bronze, Brava Blue & Yellow Ribbon at varying price points and features, but I personally love the simple design of this Smoke Silver variant with its matt metallic paint, it really highlights the sharp angles of the Guerilla’s tank and tail unit nicely, I think, especially in the sun.
What’s powering the Guerrilla? | RE Guerilla 450 Engine & Fuel Tank
The Guerilla is powered by a 452cc single-cylinder. This is the liquid-cooled Sherpa engine also found in the Himalayan adventure bike, with 39.5hp and 40nm of torque. A lot different to the previous generation’s 24hp 411 cc air-cooled unit, that’s for sure.
As expected for a larger capacity single cylinder, the Guerilla is super punchy and has bags of character too, although I found I had to work it to get the most from it. Peak torque comes in at 5500rpm, but peak power is not achieved until 8000rpm, meaning it likes to be revved, and if you want to push on, you’ll need to keep the revs high to make progress.
It’s rewarding when you do want to have a bit of fun on it, though, and it's a very satisfying machine to do it on, giving you plenty of direct feedback. If that isn’t your focus, however, and you just want to use the Guerilla for the daily commute or in the city, it’s just as at home there too, with an easy-going throttle response as long as you select the right gear (singles get a bit funny if you’re not in the sweet spot of the revs). You can also select eco mode to save you a bit of fuel along the way, too, which is a nice feature if you are commuting.
Mentioning fuel, the Guerilla comes with an 11-litre tank and can achieve up to 80mpg, allowing for a range of up to 180 miles for about £14, which, when considering how fun this bike is, I’d say that’s a pretty reasonable price for an extended day out!
What does it come with? | 2025 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Equipment & Dash
Talking of rider modes, the Guerilla has two. Eco and Performance with the eco mode, as mentioned, saving you a bit of fuel over the latter option. This is controlled through a button on the front of the right switchgear, identified by a simple ‘M’ in a circle and allows selection in seconds.
The other switchgear for the starter, kill switch, and lighting are classic Royal Enfield rotary switches with a quality tactile feel. I’ve always liked these for their simplistic but satisfying feel. We also get a centre stand, which is a nice addition as standard, but we found it a little hard to get on in comparison to other bikes, so we usually resorted to the side stand where possible.
We also get Royal Enfield’s Tripper pod alongside the analogue/LCD dash for the smoke silver colourway we have here; otherwise, if you spend a bit more, you can get a 4-inch circular Tripper dash that replaces both in one neat, large display.
The Tripper pod, in appearance alone, appears as though a bit of an afterthought in my eyes and has limited functionality. It works well enough, and the app interface is easily navigable, but the actual pod interface can be somewhat confusing at times. Naturally, being powered by Google Maps, it is quick to re-navigate after a wrong turn or find new routes, but at times, I’d pull up to a junction on smaller country lanes and two arrows would display, not making it immediately clear which one to follow, for example. Other times, on approach to a roundabout, the navigation wouldn’t be totally clear, so overall, I would just personally opt for the Tripper dash on the other colourways.
The Tripper dash also allows for more than just turn-by-turn navigation, too, with music control, phone messaging, Google Maps and more. This starts on the bronze colourway at £4,995, increasing to £5,050 for the blue and black options.
2025 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Handling
Bearing in mind that the Guerrilla is cheaper than a KTM 125 Duke, you’d assume we get budget spec kit, but that’s not the case, as we have Showa suspension both front and rear on the Guerrilla.
They’re not upside down, but we do get 43mm telescopic Showa forks at the front paired with a rear monoshock by Showa too, all on a sub £5k bike. I found this made the bike feel very light on its feet, flickable and responsive into turns, which is helped by the wide handlebars and the 17” wheels front and rear. It’s not quite a hooligan bike, but for a Royal Enfield, it gets pretty close.
The only particular downfall I felt on the handling side was the tyres. Thankfully, this is obviously something easily changed, but the Ceat brand rubber didn’t have the feedback I wanted when cornering, and suddenly let go a few times without any prior warning. I also found the choice of semi-off-road tyres a somewhat confusing addition on a roadster motorcycle, in my opinion. If it were me, I’d personally change these for something a bit more premium, but nonetheless, they do the job.
Again, braking is neither completely budget spec with a twin piston ByBre caliper up front with a large 310mm disc and a single piston ByBre at the rear with an equally large 270mm disc.
It’s no dual-disc Brembo setup, but for its spec, having a slimmed-down version of Brembo with large single discs is still pretty impressive and provides very sharp, confidence-inspiring braking at all speeds.
RE Guerrilla 450 Weight and Seat
Surprisingly, for a single cylinder 450, the Guerilla isn’t the lightest. It’s not heavy but heavier than I’d expect for a bike in this category, with a kerb weight of 184kg. Compare that to the KTM 390 Duke at 165kg or Triumph’s Speed 400 at 170kg, and you can begin to see what I mean.
I didn’t particularly notice this weight on the road, partly thanks to the Showa suspension and overall handling package, but you do notice that it isn’t a light bike when moving it around, and either way, it still remains a very approachable bike for a lot of people.
Part of this is due to the seat height of 780mm, which allowed flat footing on each side, stopped at traffic lights or elsewhere (I’m just over 5ft 9), and I should also mention that the seat itself was super comfortable with plenty of padding in the right places.
Now, if you are already considering the Guerrilla, you may wonder what else is available in a similar category. The KTM 390 Duke and Triumph Speed 400 may be a better choice for you.
Starting with the 390 Duke, it comes with a higher power output at 44hp, albeit with slightly lower torque. It does, however, have a nearly 2.5-litre larger fuel tank and manages to tip the scales at just 165kg, nearly 20kg lighter than the Enfield. Like the Guerrilla, it also has a six-speed gearbox, but it does come with a 40mm higher seat height, so it might not be a good option if you’re a bit on the shorter side.
It also comes in around £850 more, depending on colour, at £5,699.
Another alternative is the Triumph Speed 400 with the exact same power and torque, although it comes with a 2-litre larger tank and 14kg less weight. It does have a slightly higher seat height, but this will likely not even be noticeable between the two.
The shared specs continue with both the Guerrilla and Speed having six-speed gearboxes and split analogue LCD dashes, unless you opt for a different colour on the Enfield, which will gain you a circular TFT display.
Pricing on the Speed 400 starts from £5,345, so depending on colour, this puts it at around £500 more than the Guerrilla. Both options are definitely more expensive, but it purely comes down to what you prioritise.
Final Thoughts on the 2025 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450
So, is the Guerrilla 450 any good, and does it justify its price? Personally, I think yes.
It’s surprising that a liquid-cooled 450 single with Showa suspension, great geometry and handling can be produced for this price, especially when we consider it undercuts the KTM 125 Duke, but somehow Royal Enfield has done just that.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Tripper pod, but spend a little more and you can get the Tripper dash instead. I found it quite vibey at speed, but then again, it’s a single and better brand tyres would have also been nice, but that’s somewhat nitpicking.
Overall, it’s a really fun bike that handles great, has plenty of poke, but is also equally at home doing the daily commute in eco mode. Could this be your next bike?
The Last Stop
If you’ve enjoyed reading this review and are tempted to get your hands on the Guerrilla, or even if you have a bike of your own already and need somewhere to insure it, head to Lexham to get a motorcycle insurance quote direct!
