Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Apex Review - Apex Predator?

The Guerrilla 450 was the second motorcycle under the 450 cc platform after the Himalayan 450. It was positioned as a neo-roadster motorcycle, kind of a niche segment, and with respect to sales, it hasn’t been a great success story for Royal Enfield and to change that narrative, the company has launched the new Guerrilla 450 Apex. The new variant is more clear with its intent and has been positioned as a proper street naked. So can Royal Enfield taste success with the new Apex variant and more importantly, is it a worthy upgrade? We get you the answer. 

What’s Different?

So first let's check out what is different on the Apex version compared to the standard Guerrilla 450. At the front, you get a cowl above the headlight and makes it look like the Ducati Monster from the 90s, especially with the telescopic fork. The 17-inch alloys are the same, since this is a more street spec motorcycle, theVredestein Centauro ST tyres are different and more road-specific in compound and construction. At the back there’s a cowl which makes the bike look like a single-seater and in my opinion, the cowl does increase the visual appeal of the bike. 

The handlebar has been lowered by 56 mm and it has been moved forward by 57 mm, to give the rider a sportier stance. However, the footpeg position remains unchanged in comparison to the standard Guerrilla 450. 

Performance

So talking about performance, there is no change in the engine specification. It has the same 450 cc liquid cooled engine and the power and torque remains the same. What Royal Enfield claims that they have changed is the throttle map. So in the sport mode, the motorcycle feels slightly more snappy compared to the older motorcycle. The sportier acceleration makes the Apex variant slightly more enjoyable to ride and suits its street naked positioning. On our ride to Meghalaya from Assam, we encountered some really nice straights and on those patches, the bike was doing triple digit speeds with very good stability. Yes, you do feel some vibrations between 100-110 kmph, but they aren’t very harsh and kind of iron out post those speeds. 

The Guerrilla 450 Apex didn’t struggle much at city speeds too, yes, the low-end isn’t very torque heavy, but you can ride the bike at crawling speeds in an effortless manner. However, the clutch action is on the heavier side despite getting slipper clutch. So in stop-and-go traffic, your palms will start to hurt due to the heavy modulation. 

The changes made to the riding stance has had an impact on the way the bike corners apart from the new tyres. The riding posture is sporty but not overlay aggressive, offering a good balance of comfort and sportiness. The Guerrilla 450 Apex felt very eager entering corners when we rode the bike both on a go kart track and around the mountain twisties. The chassis is very communicative and it urges you to carry more corner speed and lean further making it a proper fun machine. The tyres play a key role in this regard as the standard bike’s tyres weren’t the best out there and even the pattern is different. 

Now coming to the ride quality, we were expecting the rear suspension tuning to be changed because a lot of people felt that it was on the former side, but Royal Enfield hasn't changed the suspension tuning. According to the brand it was done so to not upset the handling dynamics of the bike. Personally, I feel it's fine, but a slightly better tune would have made things better. While the front telescopic fork does a good job of damping, an USD fork would have amplified the visual presence and gone well with the street naked positioning. Braking hardware is unchanged and it offers good stopping power, but switchable ABS should have been offered as an option. 

Also READ: Royal Enfield Flying Flea C6 First Ride Review

Styling & Features

As I mentioned before with respect to styling much hasn’t changed with the Guerrilla 450. The Apex edition gets a cowl at the front and rear, and in my opinion it does make the bike look different compared to the standard bike. The road-spec tyres give it a sporty look but the telescopic fork makes the front end look a bit weird and a golden USD fork would have really helped with the visual appeal of the bike. There are 3 colour options for the Apex variant (Apex Red, Apex Green & Apex Black), my personal favourite is the Apex Red as it just pops. 

On to features and this where the Guerrilla really disappoints. We were expecting the updated model to get cruise control or even a switchable ABS but sadly both aren’t available. Also a lot of customers felt it needed traction control as the rival bikes have it, but personally I am fine without it. One good update though is that now you can mirror maps without the need to keep the phone display on for Android. 

Verdict

So with the new Apex version, Royal Enfield have added a distinct flavor in the Guerrilla platform. It feels more clear in its intent which wasn’t the case with the Guerilla 450. The tyres not only help with the visual positioning but also with the handling dynamics of the motorcycle. The slightly more sporty riding position goes well with the characteristics of the bike and also the subtle design changes makes it look stand apart from its sibling. In fact, the Guerilla 450 Apex is clearly the most fun to ride Royal Enfield motorcycle out there. 

Then there’s the value aspect as at ₹2.49 lakh (ex-showroom), it’s competitively priced too, for example the Triumph Street Tracker 400 with a 350 cc engine is just ₹3,000 more affordable. Yes, we would have appreciated the inclusion of a USD fork and a more compliant ride, but these aren’t deal breakers for the Apex 450. In fact, we feel that the Royal Enfield Guerilla 450 Apex has the potential to overtake the standard bike with respect to sales and can help the company gain market share in this segment.