Royal Enfield released a sportier version of its natty Guerrilla 450 roadster this year – the Apex. We spent a day riding the neat little machine around Warwickshire, and took a trip to its spiritual home in Redditch. Here’s how it went.
There’s a definite trend for downsizing in recent years. People are, seemingly, a bit bored by a ratcheting-up of power, mass, cost and speed on two wheels, and lots of riders are looking to smaller machinery.
Royal Enfield has been a pioneer in this sector: its 350 single launched back in 2021 spawned a slew of copycats from Triumph, Honda, BSA and others, all aimed at this simpler, slower (and cheaper!) pace of two-wheeled life.
But it’s arguably been a little bit on the steady side. The Enfield Meteor 350, Honda GB350S, Triumph Speed 400 and BSA Bantam are all decent bikes, but are decidedly in the slower-paced ‘retro roadster’ camp.
What if you want all of those pluses of low cost, light weight, moderate power and licence-saving speed, but in a slightly more lively package?
Well, step this way my friend, because Royal Enfield has been doing the thinking for you, and has rustled up a small-bore bike with a hint of retro vibes, but more in the style of something like my old Suzuki X7 than a GSX250.
The legendary X7 stroker I owned back in the 1990s comes to mind as I’m rattling down a twisty Cotswolds back road on the slick Guerrilla Apex 450. Of course the 2026 bike is very different in lots of ways: a grunty single-cylinder 452cc four-stroke liquid-cooled motor rather than a sparky 247cc air-cooled parallel twin two-stroke, and modern running gear with fat radial tyres instead of 1970s chassis tech and skinny cross-plies.
But the power/weight ratio is in the same ballpark (40bhp/174kg dry on the Enfield vs 30bhp/146kg dry on the Suzuki), and the attitude is on par too. The skinny Guerrilla eggs you on to attack a bend, and encourages you to stretch the (metaphorical) throttle cable on the ride-by-wire fuel injection which feeds the grunty little engine.
As ever with Royal Enfield, its bikes seem to offer much more fun and performance than you’d expect from the spec sheet. On paper the Apex 450 is a fairly mundane proposition, especially these days.
I rode up to this event on a BMW S1000 R with 170bhp and superbike-spec chassis. But within a couple of hours, I’m having a ball with less than a quarter of that power figure. The entertainment started early on the Guerrilla Apex: sling a leg over and you find a commendably low-slung seat height (just 780mm, with a narrow saddle), and a supermodel-slim profile to the machine overall.
One single round LCD display gives all the basic info you need (and much more, as I’d find later on), a set of low, flat bars put you right in command, and familiar Enfield switchgear is simple and clearly laid out.
Start ‘er up on the button and you get a fairly anodyne emissions-compliant rumble from the tucked-in single silencer, before clicking down into first on the really precise gear lever and pulling away.
Through town, the 450 has perfect manners. It’s eminently chuckable, thanks to that low mass and lower seat, while the brakes give solid stopping power. The very nice Enfield development rider told me that they’ve put a lot of work into the tyre development with niche Indian brand Vredestein, and on the warm dry asphalt we had for this test, they were pretty good indeed.
Even when we got onto faster roads, they offered decent feedback, and were more than up to whatever I threw at them.
The Showa suspension is in the same camp: very much an everyday set of numbers on the spec sheet, but just about right for the overall chassis package. The damping is a little bouncy, and big potholes will cause a bit of a thump from the back end – but it’s all part of the experience, and you’re not left feeling like Enfield has short-changed you at all.
That gear shift is a joy, the linkage-less lever snicking through the box with aplomb, and the fuelling is smoothly accomplished. You can ride the Guerrilla on the torque, short-shifting away, but if you hang onto the revs, it really sings.
I’m not expecting any S1000 R owners to be tempted away by the Sherpa engine’s 40bhp – but it’s a really sweet little lump in this application.
The end of the day sees me in a rush to get back down to London, so I have to spend 40 miles flat-out on the M40 motorway back to our starting point. The Guerrilla seems like it will top out around a ton, and is pretty happy with an indicated 85mph on the LCD dash.
You need to tuck in, there’s no real wind protection, and you’re at a bit of a disadvantage in motorway traffic of course. But the Guerrilla Apex is much more capable than the really slow 350s like Honda’s GB350S.
The little Honda, or Royal Enfield’s Meteor 350, are arguably on the underpowered side for a super-fast road like the M40, where you have to work flat-out to stay around 70mph when heading up an incline or into a strong headwind.
But the extra 10-20bhp on the Apex makes it far more capable here, especially if you were to add luggage or even a pillion.
There is one problem though: the fuel gauge is ticking down fast now: the skimpy 11-litre fuel tank is a definite drop from the 17 litre unit on the Himalayan.
Luckily, there’s a handy (and accurate) ‘range remaining’ display on the LCD dash, so I can easily track the miles back to base on Google Maps, and work out that I’ll make it home in time for tea with a 20 mile margin.
So – a neat, nimble, stylish roadster, with a nice bit of extra performance than some in that capacity sector, a sorted chassis, and a decent price tag of just over £5k.
If that sounds like something which would work for you, get down to your local Royal Enfield dealer now to book a test ride!
The Royal Enfield Guerrilla Apex 450 is available now in red or black priced at £5,050. More info, test ride booking and your nearest dealer at www.royalenfield.com.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Apex tech highlights
Engine
The Sherpa engine is the same as the one on the firm’s Himalayan off-road adventure touring machine. It’s arguably the most modern of the Indian firm’s engine designs, with four-valve DOHC head, ride-by-wire fuel injection with a 42mm throttle body, forged piston and plated alloy bore, balancer shaft, liquid-cooling, slipper clutch and six-speed gearbox.
It’s pretty grunty too: claimed power is around 40bhp with 40Nm of torque, double the power of a 350 Meteor and 50 per cent more torque over Enfield’s air-cooled single. Gearing is slightly higher than on the Himalayan to suit more high-speed road use.
Chassis
Simple steel tube main frame, based on the Himalayan unit, so a tough piece of kit. Dual-sided swingarm is again a variant of the Himalayan design, but is shortened, cutting the wheelbase down by 70mm to 1,440mm.
Apex
This Apex version of the Guerrilla is the same basic setup as the standard slightly-scrambler-y 450, but with a modestly-tweaked riding position. The bars are 56mm lower and 57mm further forward to put more of the rider’s weight over the front of the bike. It uses sportier Vredestein Centauro ST sport touring tyres rather than scrambler-style CEAT fitments. And you get a neat headlamp surround plus removable single seat pillion cover.
Brakes/wheels/tyres
ByBre brakes front and rear are basic uncomplicated units, with a 310mm disc and dual-piston caliper up front, but they work well enough. The Guerrilla also comes with light cast aluminium wheels with sporty 17” tyre sizes. The Vredestein tyres are claimed to be the stickiest fitments Enfield uses, and they were actually spot-on during our test ride.
Equipment
There’s a useful 4” round TFT LCD instrument panel, with a handy joystick control, Tripper navigation with Google Maps integration, smartphone link for music, two riding power modes, USB-C power socket and LED lights all round
Accessories
Crash bars, comfort seat, luggage, hand guards, belly pan, bar-end mirrors and lots of other factory options all available.
2026 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Apex SPECS
Price: £5,050
Engine: DOHC 4v, single, l/c, 452cc Sherpa engine
Bore x stroke: 84×81.5mm
Compression ratio: 11.5:1
Carburation: ride-by-wire fuel injection, 42mm throttle body
Electronic rider aids: two riding modes (Sport/Street), ABS
Max power (claimed) 40bhp@8,000rpm
Max torque (claimed) 40Nm@5,500rpm
Transmission: six-speed gearbox, wet slipper/assist clutch, chain final drive
Frame: steel tube twin spar type
Front suspension: Showa 43mm RWU front fork, non-adjustable, 140mm travel
Rear suspension: dual-sided box-section swingarm, preload-adjustable Showa monoshock, 145mm travel
Brakes: single 310mm disc, twin-piston sliding axial-mount caliper (front), 270mm disc, single-piston caliper (rear), dual-channel ABS
Wheels/tyres: cast aluminium/Vredestein Centauro ST, 120/70 17 front, 160/60 17 rear
Rake/trail: na°/na
Wheelbase: 1,440mm
Seat height: 780mm
Kerb weight: 185kg (174kg dry)
Fuel capacity: 11 litres
Equipment: Round LCD dash with Tripper Bluetooth functions. Fuel gauge, range, gear, mpg displays, USB-C charge point.
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