With the Himalayan 450, Royal Enfield heralded a new era for motorcycling for the brand with the introduction of a new liquid-cooled engine. It happened for the first time in the brand’s long, lustrous history but RE is surely not going to settle here. They have created an entirely new platform for the new Himalayan 450 and it being so impressive, we cannot wait to see what else RE can cook from the same ingredients. The next big launch by the de facto retro bikemaker is going to be the Guerrilla 450 - a stripped down, roadster version of the Himalayan 450. Here's what we can expect from the Guerrilla 450 that is scheduled to reveal itself to the world in the middle of next month.
Easy on the eyes
The Himalayan 450 has a commanding road presence, as is the case with most ADVs out there. Not you, Xpulse 200! The Guerrilla 450 would be much easier on the eyes and footprint as well. With the Guerrilla, RE is not going the Scram way on the Himalayan but it wouldn’t be wrong to conclude that it follows the same ethos as the Hunter 350. With 17-inch wheels at both the ends, it is going to be an agile city slicker with more zest to dance around bends. Up front, the round LED headlamp and fork gaiters complete the look. The side profile of the upcoming roadster looks largely similar to the Himalayan, sans the stance. Expect RE to go crazy with the colour palette for the Guerrilla 450. The rear end too, is instantly recognizable that it shares its blood and soul with the Himalayan 450.
The soul
The Sherpa 450 engine is beautiful. Even in the Himalayan 450 where the lack of low end grunt is even more prominent because of its adventurous engine, this powertrain still plasters a wide grin. Thanks to its potent performance, high-revving nature and the engine growl. We can see the same engine pulling off the job real well in the Guerrilla 450. Even if RE wishes to leave the gearing and tuning exactly the same as the Himalayan, the Guerrilla is still going to be a hoot to ride. We don’t expect any drop in performance and in fact, RE has had enough time at its hands to iron out the initial issues it might have faced with the Sherpa 450. Given the lack of body panels and use of lighter cycle parts, we expect the Guerrilla 450 to be lighter than the Himalayan by around 10-15 kilograms. Coupled with an agile front end, it is going to be dynamically very different from the Himalayan. It remains to be seen whether RE has knocked Showa’s doors again for the suspension setup or has turned to its in-house engineers to save some pretty bucks. We hope RE has gone down the Showa way.
Why should we be excited?
The Himalayan 450 has showcased that the new platform by RE is a potent and versatile one. With the modern-retro roadster space growing at a more rapid pace than ever, it would be great for us motorcyclists to have another good option served at our table. Since it is less focused than the Himalayan, we expect the Guerrilla to be a bit easier on the pocket too.
Image credits: Pink Piston
.jpg)
