Barcelona.
It just rolls off the tongue naturally. It’s a mellifluous example of why Spanish is one of the Romance languages. When asked to write a theme for the 1992 Summer Olympics, Freddie Mercury and Mike Moran knew the city’s name made the perfect song title. Mercury recruited opera singer Montserrat Caballé to sing the duet with him, and the rest is history.
Speaking of history, Barcelona is one of the world’s oldest cities, with the first signs of life dating back over 7,000 years. If you ask the Greek mythologists, they’ll tell you that no less than Hercules founded the city. However, historians will point to the Phoenicians, who traded along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
It is hard not to think about Barcelona’s history when walking through the Gothic Quarter. As my two-kilometer walk from my room at the seaside W Barcelona got me there early, I enjoyed mingling with the locals and tourists. Although there is much to see, the Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar may be the most impressive stop. Construction commenced in 1329, and the result is stunning, inside and out.
Royal Enfield selected La Llotja de Mar as the venue for the global debut of the Guerrilla 450 roadster. The building’s history dates back to the 12th century and is now the home to spectacular architecture, sculpture, and painting. In the 21st century, La Llotja de Mar is caretaken by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, which has opened it up to a wide range of functions—including a motorcycle presentation.
The atmosphere for the debut of the Guerrilla was more nightclub than motorsports. The libations were flowing, and a DJ was setting the tone. Eventually, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” took over, with the title refrain seemingly repeated hundreds of times, more loudly with each recurrence. Unfortunately, the 12th-century acoustics rendered the presentation only semi-audible—I was glad I had gotten an earlier technical walkthrough.
The 2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 is a roadster variant of the Himalayan 450 adventure bike. According to a Royal Enfield engineer, about 50 percent of the parts are common to both motorcycles, with the Sherpa 450 engine providing the lion’s share.
That motor is a liquid-cooled, DOHC single displacing 452cc. While that may suggest something like the 50+ horsepower motors in motocross bikes, Royal Enfield is quick to counter that. The architecture of the slightly oversquare engine is there to facilitate lower emissions, not high revs and peak output. According to Royal Enfield, the powerplant’s 39 horsepower peak comes at 8000 rpm, with torque topping out at 30 ft-lbs at 5000 rpm—more than respectable enough for an affordable roadster.
The 2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 is a philosophical expansion for the Indian brand that refuses to ditch its British heritage. Much of the R&D work is done at the Royal Enfield UK Technology Centre in Lutterworth, just a dozen miles east of the Triumph factory in Hinckley.
For decades, Royal Enfield exclusively made extraordinarily retro motorcycles, virtually untouched since the 1950s. That changed when the twin-cylinder 650s came out, and the singles were updated mechanically and aesthetically. Still, all the Royal Enfields continued to have air-cooled, single-cam motors with no more than two valves per cylinder. The new Sherpa 450 powerplant, with double-overhead cams and a four-valve head, heralds a serious move toward modernity.
The Guerrilla 450’s chassis is a mix of old and new. The Showa fork is a conventional, non-adjustable design with gaiters covering the fork tubes—definitely retro. In contrast, the bike’s rear floats above the wheel, with a linkage-assisted cantilevered Showa shock making a modern statement. Also pushing that contemporary narrative is the narrow-oval muffler.
The Ceat Gripp XL tires are more dirt-track than roadster, adding another retro touch. The LED lighting sends conflicting signals—the round front is old school, and the sleek integration of brake lighting into the turn indicators is undeniably modern. Round is again the theme of the mirror and the TFT display, which has some high-tech baked in. The seat and tank are sculpted to fashionable standards.
Finally, a wide variety of paint jobs are available—a hallmark of Royal Enfield—ensuring there’s something that will appeal to young and old tastes, with plenty of variants in between. Yes, there’s a lot going on with the appearance of the 2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450. Impressively, it all coalesces into an attractive motorcycle that looks more sophisticated than you might expect in its price range—less than £5k for the Smoke Silver paint scheme.
With all that out of the way, it was time to ride the Guerrilla 450.
Unlike many manufacturer-led rides of new models, Royal Enfield took advantage of the Barcelona spawl rather than avoid it. A large part of the Guerrilla 450 ride was through the streets of the city, working our way through traffic and alongside the ever-present locals on scooters.
The beauty of Barcelona revealed itself repeatedly. Early on, we rode past the 200-foot-tall Monument a Colom, which gloriously honors the world-changing explorer from Italy who served Barcelona-based Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand V. Every major city in the United States should have one of these, and other cities around the world have scaled-down versions.
Of course, being on a 450cc street bike rather than a low-displacement scooter gave us a natural performance, if not convenience, advantage in urban Barcelona. The Guerrilla 450 acquitted itself impressively as a city motorcycle. The broad powerband is easy to manage, and the handling is sure-footed. At stops, the 30.7-inch seat height makes finding the ground easy, adding to confidence.
Urban Barcelona gave me plenty of time to get acquainted with the clutch, transmission, brakes, and ride-by-wire throttle. Royal Enfield wanted to make the Guerrilla an approachable motorcycle for city riders, and the engineers succeeded. Handling is not over-responsive. While it can dart into briefly open slots between cars as necessary, the Guerrilla is slanted toward predictability over stark agility—roundabouts are a breeze. The longish travel Showa suspension—5.5 inches in the front and nearly six inches in the rear—helped avoid surprises when the pavement fell short of perfection.
A hop on the busy freeway gave the Guerrilla 450 a chance to stretch its legs and show off its wide-ratio six-speed transmission and chassis stability. Although the clutch has slipper and assist functions, the pull wasn’t as light as I expected with the assist feature.
While I’m a big fan of urban riding, most of it is done at home in Los Angeles, and Barcelona has its own rules and customs. Despite that, the Guerrilla fought the good fight as we worked toward the hinterlands, coming out victorious. There are many ways to see a city such as Barcelona, and being aboard the 2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 is undoubtedly one of the great ones.
A run up Highway BV-1468 was a delight. It’s a constantly curving road into the mountains, with a few villages thrown in along the way. I even spotted a 1960s Montesa two-stroke street bike descending the hill toward Turó d’en Corts—something I’ve never seen in the United States.
From there, the ride was a long series of runs on narrow two-lane mountain roads. The paving was generally excellent, and very little traffic. For the most part, when you come upon a slower vehicle, drivers will give way, which is as it should be.
The 2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 positions itself as a stylish, modest, and affordable roadster. The handling, suspension, and power are all adequate for a good time without allowing room for too much crazy. Just as the Guerrilla is on the forgiving side of the handling equation in the city, so, too is it in the canyons. There’s plenty of forgiveness built in, something that will be appreciated by all but the most committed.
The most significant shortcoming of the Guerrilla 450 is the brakes, partially due to the Ceat Gripp XL tires. The dirt-track-styled tires were clearly more an aesthetic pick than a strictly performance choice.
Although it takes a little time to learn to trust the block-pattern Ceat rubber in the canyons, eventually, it happens, and they generally perform as intended.
However, the radial Gripp XL tires fall short during braking. Up front, you have a 310mm disc with a ByBre caliper. While that’s enough when you have a sticky front tire and a lighter bike, the front braking system struggles at speed when dropping anchor imperiously on the 405-pound Guerrilla. The lack of braking traction reveals itself at inopportune times, which is when you need it most, and the dual-channel ABS didn’t offer much help. However, remembering to use the massive 270mm rear disc helps. Unless you’re a genuinely casual rider, budget for a pair of higher-performance tires and save the stock Ceat tires for resale.
Along the way, we stopped for lunch at Mirador de las Caves on Highway BP02427 near the village of Els Casot in wine country. As is seemingly always the case in Spain, the food was incredible. I sampled a local chicken dish and their seafood paella, which was magnificent (add a Catalan accent to get the pronunciation right).
A coffee break in Gelida was one of those cultural jolts that you sometimes experience during travel. I noticed a nice, clean white wall and took the Guerrilla down for a few photos. There was a building of some sort, but it wasn’t obvious what it was. I started poking around and realized that it was the Cementiri de Gelida, which is seemingly all mausoleum-style, though not like any mausoleum I’ve seen. There were windows with vases filled with flowers—unusual to my eyes. Hopefully, I didn’t disturb any spirits with my curiosity.
Oddly, it wasn’t my first mausoleum-style cemetery encounter in the Barcelona area. As I was driven into town from the airport the previous morning, we went by a very odd-looking hillside collection of structures that I couldn’t identify. The driver told me it was Cementiri de Montjuïc—I couldn’t believe it was real.
More canyon riding reconfirmed my earlier observations. The 2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 is a likeable motorcycle in every way. It’s fun, yet unintimidating. It has perfectly neutral ergonomics, making it a joy to ride all day. I tried the Eco mode, but what fun is that—stick with the standard Performance mode unless you think you’re about to run the wonderfully sculpted 2.9-gallon fuel tank dry. The four-inch-round TFT display is a winner, and a practical modern touch. It has some navigation capabilities, but I didn’t have a chance to explore them.
As we returned to urban Barcelona, the route headed into the hilly Montjuïc neighborhood. It reminded me of Mulholland Drive at home, with expansive views of Barcelona replacing the sights of Los Angeles. We stopped at a popular viewing spot to take it all in. The beautiful Plaça de Catalunya and the famously unfinished Sagrada Família church beckoned. Sadly, they were not on the route, so all I could do was plan for next time when I’m calling the shots. On the upside, tourists and locals alike showed interest in the Guerrilla 450.
After a bit more dueling with the local drivers, we made our way safely back to the garage of the W Barcelona.
Riding the 2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 in such a broad range of situations quickly gave me a sense of the motorcycle. Sure, you can sneer at its credibility as a roadster, given its adventure bike heritage. But if you do, you’ll miss out on an inexpensive motorcycle that delivers quite a bit more than its price promises. Be patient, though, as the Guerrilla won’t be available in the United States until next year, and we don’t have a price in US dollars.
Photography by Stuart Collins, Jason Critchell, Felix Fotografia, Aitor Lamadrid, Fco.Francés Torrontera, Don Williams et al
RIDING STYLE
2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Specs
ENGINE
- Type: Single cylinder
- Displacement: 452cc
- Bore x stroke: 84 x 81.5mm
- Maximum power: 39 horsepower @ 8000 rpm
- Maximum torque: 30 ft-lbs @ 5500 rpm
- Compression ratio: 11.5:1
- Valvetrain: DOHC; 4 valves
- Lubrication: Semi-dry sump
- Transmission: 6-speed
- Clutch: Wet multiplate w/ slip and assist functions
- Final drive: Chain
CHASSIS
- Frame: Twin-spar tubular-steel
- Front suspension; travel: Non-adjustable Showa inverted 43mm fork; 5.5 inches
- Rear suspension; travel: Linkage-assisted, spring-preload adjustable Showa shock; 5.9 inches
- Wheels: Aluminum
- Tires: Ceat Gripp XL radials
- Front tire: 120/70 x 17
- Rear tire: 160/60 x 17
- Front brake: 310mm disc w/ ByBre 2-piston caliper
- Rear brake: 270mm disc w/ ByBre single-piston caliper
- ABS: Dual channel
DIMENSIONS and CAPACITIES
- Wheelbase: 56.7 inches
- Seat height: 30.7 inches
- Fuel capacity: 2.9 gallons
- Curb weight: 405 pounds
COLORS
- Analogue: Smoke Silver; Playa Black (+£145)
- Flash: Brava Blue (+£200); Yellow Ribbon (+£200)
- Dash: Gold Dip (+£145)
2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Price: £4850 MSRP
