Guerrilla gets urban makeover

Royal Enfield’s largely overlooked Guerrilla 450 has been given a mild makeover, with a number of small changes we think should really make this tidy little bike even better.

We reviewed the Guerrilla last year, being impressed and confused in equal measures. We loved the bike’s lightness, performance and general quirkiness, but felt it was a bit of a mongrel – being a mix of scrambler, flat track and traditional roadster in its style.

The 2026 Guerrilla, which is officially named the Guerrilla 450 APEX, addresses many of the things we felt held it back and should transform it into a more focussed urban roadster promises to be more sporting down the back roads.

While we were largely impressed in our time with the Guerrilla, we felt the scrambler style semi-knobbly CEAT tyres and tall-ish handlebars were detrimental to the handling. The APEX gets lower aluminium handlebars which are also positioned a little further forward, creating a sportier and more forward leaning riding position. Out too go the skittish knobblies, being replaced by Vredestein Centauro ST tyres, pure road rubber which should offer more grip.

Royal Enfield say the ride modes have been updated too. There are still two modes, Street and Sport, but they reckon the electronics have been refined – hopefully offering more differentiation between the two – while the bike doesn’t default back to Road every time the bike is started, something that could be a bit annoying.

Other niggles we highlighted were around some of the detailing. A colour coded front cowling now tidies up the headlight and the colours, trims and graphics are generally a bit less wacky, while the detachable seat hump is another extra bit of spec added as standard.

There is a small price increase, but at £4995 the Royal Enfield Guerilla 450 APEX still undercuts its main rival, which we would say is Triumph’s Speed 400, by £250. The two machines, which are both developed in the UK but built in India, have near identical claimed peak power outputs of 39.5bhp – although the bigger capacity Enfield has a touch more torque, at the expense of a little extra weight.

Although the modifications to the 2026 Guerrilla appear small, we think they should add up to making it the motorcycle it always should have been.

We’re looking forward to seeing how they translate on the road.