The Guerrilla 450 Apex is Royal Enfield’s sportiest motorcycle yet and it has a more focused rider triangle and comes with road-focused Vredestein Centauro ST sport touring tyres. We were recently able to subject the bike through our instrumented fuel economy tests and here are the numbers we received. It bears mentioning that since the difference between the standard Guerrilla and the Apex boils down to different ergos, a few cosmetic parts and different tyres, these numbers will largely hold true for the standard Guerrilla as well.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 real-world fuel efficiency
It returned 25.23kpl in the city, 32.82kpl on the highway
As is our norm, we first ran the Guerrilla 450 Apex on the highway for a little over 40km (we couldn’t do our usual 50km loop due to construction on our testing patch), after which it took 1.30 litres of fuel to brim the tank.
Then we headed to the traffic-riddled streets of South Mumbai, where we again ran the bike for a little over 40km once again after which it needed 1.7 litres to top up the tank once more. Thus, we arrived at a fuel economy number of 25.23kpl.
Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 fuel efficiency analysis
452cc single has a strong mid-range, makes for effortless riding
The Guerrilla 450 is powered by the same ‘Sherpa 450’ engine as the Himalayan 450 and it makes the same 40hp at 8,000rpm and 40Nm of torque at 5,500rpm. The power figure - while certainly respectable - may not be the best in class but it is the strong surge of mid-range torque which really dictates the riding experience.
Out on the highway, the Guerrilla purrs along stress-free at 75-80kph (the legal speed limit on the stretch of highway where we conduct our tests), with the revs hovering around the 4,000rpm mark. If you need to make a quick overtake, all it takes is a small twist of the accelerator to make forward progress.
In the city, it's again the strong low and mid-range pull which makes it a breeze to squeeze through gaps in traffic. One caveat is that you need to keep the revs above 3,000rpm to keep the engine in its sweet spot, below that mark the motor feels sluggish and progress is noticeably slower.
Autocar India’s fuel-efficiency testing
Our fuel-efficiency testing routine starts by first brimming the tank and ensuring the bike is running the manufacturer’s recommended tyre pressures. The bike is then ridden on fixed city and highway routes, where we maintain average speeds that best mimic real-world scenarios as well as keeping speed limits in mind. The payload on the bikes is kept constant by balancing rider weights and ballast, ensuring consistency across different vehicles and riders. At the end of the test cycle, the fuel tank is once again filled to the brim, giving us an accurate figure of how much fuel has been consumed against the trip meter reading.