New Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Roadster Teased By CEO

The launch of the new Royal Enfield Guerilla 450 is just around the corner, and the team already seem to be having a ball with the new bike, prior to us getting our hands on it!

Royal Enfield's CEO, Sid Lal, is one of the people stretching the legs of the new machine, as he's posted a bit of a teaser image of the bike on his personal social media account. It shows him tackling what looks like a Spanish mountain road, as he is thought to be one of the team of people hand-picking the roads to be ridden at the launch later this month. We'll also be flying out to sample the new bike, and joining the rest of the Royal Endield team on July 15.

Although the Guerilla 450 and Himalayan 450 might not look alike, the two share the same heart: The Sherpa 450 engine that debuted in the Himalayan that launched last year is now transplanted into the Guerilla 450, although it’s currently uncertain whether the liquid-cooled 452cc single will produce different outputs to the 40bhp and 30lb ft it sends to the rear wheel of the Himalayan.

The two also seem to share a tail section, but most of the rest of the bike is different. The suspension, for example, utilises a conventional front fork rather than the USD fork on the Himalayan, most of the bodywork is (expectedly) different, and it's expected that the TFT dash on the Himalayan will be discarded for a simpler display in order to keep the price down. Speaking of, BikeWale expects a price equivalent to around £2,250. 

BikeWale also suggests the bike could launch with electronics like selectable riding modes and traction control. The latter is certainly true of what would be the Guerilla 450’s obvious rival, the Triumph Speed 400, which also features a ride-by-wire throttle.

Both the Guerilla 450 and Speed 400 are neo-retro-styled nakeds, both feature single-cylinder engines, both should produce around 40bhp, and both are built in India (the Triumph through the brand’s industrial partnership with Bajaj).

It seems that the two will not launch far apart, either. The Triumph dropped, along with the Scrambler 400 X, late last year, while BikeWale reports that media invites were recently sent out for the first test rides of the Guerilla 450 and that those will take place in July. It means the Guerilla 450 should be expected to be officially launched by Royal Enfield this summer.

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