GUERRILLA 452

[xbally]

Here it is....arrived yesterday.

Not ridden yet due to other commitments.

Style is growing on me with the mix of old and new.

Needed a good clean as it appears to have been in a warehouse somewhat unloved!

The build quality looks so far to be as good if not better than my Interceptor -ie excellent for the price.

Riding impressions to follow.

[Moto63]

Brilliant stuff Martin, Big bro absolutely loves his. Let us know your thoughts once you’ve been out in this gorgeous sunshine on it👍
Cheers, Michael

[xbally]

Thanks Michael That was a quick response 

I only had a short window to ride it in yesterday and the weather was cold here in the morning so I thought I would wait for better weather (looks good here at the moment today).

[themoudie]

Aye Martin, be interested to read how you get on, but you'll have to stop havering, as it is going to "persist" for a week, starting this coming Friday/Saturday, 23rd/24th, May, and be back to sub 12°C temperatures. I'd leave the polishing till the weekend and get those tyres scrubbed in sharpish. 

I hope that you enjoy wearing it out.

Good health, Bill

[xbally]

Thanks Bill.
The weather's not been that great here today-occasional sun but largely cloudy so a portent of things to come.
I've managed 2 short rides yesterday and today as I find running in a bit tedious having been running in my Crusader since last August.
However the little modern Enfield is such a doddle to ride compared to the Crusader that it's a completely different ball game. Of course this is as it should be with 65 years between them!
Everything works as it should, of course, as it should do. The engine wants to go all the time so I'm having to be very careful not to over rev it. Difficult though as the base model I've gone for (the other colour options with one or two exceptions weren't really to my old fashioned taste), so I opted for plain  silver. Being the base model it doesn't have the "TFT" (whatever that is?) dash so there's no rev counter which makes running in even more arduous when you're trying to second guess what revs the engine is turning over at!
I've limited myself to 40 mph for the first hundred miles and obviously  know not to over rev it or slog the motor so I'm using the 6 speed box more than I would normally. The box itself is fine as is the clutch (very light). Brakes are again what you would expect on a modern bike and the handling I know from my test ride is very good too.
The owners' manual is virtually useless as far as description of the analogue dash is concerned as it doesn't seem to get much of a mention so I've had to look up how to change the clock time and re-set the twin trip meters on line. It does have a gear indicator which I find useful as well.
There's no actual rear light as the indicators double (or treble) up as brake and rear light. This is the first vehicle I've owned with LED's too.
Anyway all good thus far. The first"service" is at only 300 miles and it's basically just an oil change and check over. Revs can be increased from 4000 to 6000 after 500kms.

[themoudie]

Aye Martin, sounding promising in all departments then. As for the 300 mile oil change that makes sense, some manufacturers delay it until 500 miles or even longer. RE appear to want to remove any swarf, wee bits, good and early from the system. My rebuilds only get 20 miles afore the oil is dumped and refilled, then again at 200 miles. Oil/filter are cheap when compared to a damaged engine.

Enjoy the beastie, good health, Bill

[xbally]

Yes Bill. I totally agree with your sentiments.
The next service , after the first, is set for 6K miles or 12 months. I know I won't cover 6000 miles in a year (it's taken me 5 years to do that mileage on my Interceptor.)
No doubt I'll need an annual service to retain the warranty(3 years).
I might do an interim oil and filter change myself if the mileage creeps up. I always do an annual oil and filter change on my bikes anyway as a matter of course.

[xbally]

Well I've now covered over 100 miles and things seem to be settling down or bedding in nicely.

I'm going to slowly increase the maximum speed gradually up to 50 mph prior to the first service but shall continues to vary the load on the engine and make much use of the gears.

I've fitted a rear hugger extension to help keep the plot clean, otherwise there's not much else to do except to ride it when I can. The weather's now back to normal following the near   drought conditions for most of the spring so I'll only be going out when it looks to be dry. The last 2 rides were under cloudy skies. I know bikes should be ridden but I like to avoid wet roads whenever i can but I do have the luxury of 2 other bikes I can use regardless.

I'll probably get an after market air filter soon and maybe change the exhaust at some point but it's quite nice as it is for the time being and is safer as far as the numbers of horse and rider using the quieter back roads which I'm currently mostly riding on.

I probably change the oil and filter after another 1000 miles from the first service  over the winter as bill suggests and see what additions or modifications come on to the market in the loger term.

[Moto63]

Glad to hear you’re enjoying the Guerilla Martin. Big bro has just had the first service done on his. (Last Friday)
He too is looking for a slip on end can, he’s narrowed it down to two. A Zard or an Ixil. Both of which he is finding extremely hard to get hold of. No one seems to have either in stock.
Cheers
, Michael

[xbally]

Thanks Michael.
The Zard ones are pretty expensive. I think Hitchcock's are currently out of stock.
However it appears you can get both through Ebay.......but not in the UK.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256936472941?_skw=royal+enfield+exhaust+guerrilla&itmmeta=01JWBSWHWFE4JSZEWR7257EW1A&hash=item3bd29b716d:g:a1QAAOSwo9pnYU2k&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA4FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cA4lE%2B044vAoPRwbW9xmqb%2F2UHDlnStUpiZ7l23NhhghlQmpa0m9gE1HNWOr8Nnci7lxeALQTwls3N%2F3KFyEF1q19fVeuamlAEBEmBJF5t1ENMiQpn0ggTYLnG66v8b2cZKqkSUCUsntY5Ul0%2BiUP86KtZ9LJiEsY9muXjBb1xCB0PzmM5obPWUOjMei8jk%2FfhaqX6s2KB%2FWrWgvbgeUDnuwKWoIcpJfP7wVPHLiDrU7GV82sonxlScWtccpQv7mBWtaUQOaRZr0Bu7Ypa8CQo%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6qf8vniZQ

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126912529765?_skw=royal+enfield+exhaust+guerrilla&itmmeta=01JWBSWHWFXAX9G1EKR563M9X2&hash=item1d8c938565:g:UbsAAOSwGfdnfuxr&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA4FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cNufFTq4phXN9tl2l3mk6NDP6OtJCPoCPK%2BSrsy3Gk0RN00IHzgjs2J9Omu%2Fa5gTsHhc%2BhEjsdsio0Jz%2Fw2BSXYxEfvIzvVApMFiWtoz2VlXeBt%2Bt95vFdw0%2BDqYeP6PvwR7KKlrcFmv%2Bw%2FdJuZj8GfAps8If%2Fu2ZmaokmJjWzG952WnkbjmhLtia7pMcdmmpnh5tjA9yxLGvlstTf%2FtwRSJxvrlol9J4N%2BouQwliu0dWFA0%2BAH7PehEJWlHcWQReVujxzzvilyuoKfEDypgHW%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6qf8vniZQ

https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/54454?cont_page=Royal-Enfield-450-Guerrilla-Accessories

[Moto63]

Thanks for the links Martin. I think he’s tried approx 15 different UK outlets and not one have either in stock. They all give the same answer. They’re expecting a delivery from Italy anytime soon 🤷
Cheers, Michael

[xbally]

First service is booked for next week.
In the meantime I did an approximate check of fuel consumption which  worked out to be at approximately 110 mpg. I'll clearly need to re-check this at next fill up as it seems overly low, even though I'm sticking to little more than 40 mph until the first service.

[xbally]

Update : my fuel consumption figures were miles out! Not sure how I managed that? Any way corrected figures are 72 mpg for the first fill up and 81 for the second. Still not too bad but nowhere near my 500 Bullet which regularly returned over 100mpg.
Anyway I took the Guerrilla for its first service this week having just about clocked the 500 kms . No problems and it runs just the same after the service. I can now increase the load on the engine gradually up to about 1250 miles after which full power can be used.
The thing does want to go and begs to be revved but although I know running in's not likely to make much difference these days I still want to do it properly. I did 20 miles on it this morning after picking it up and this afternoon I took my 650 Interceptor on a 35 mile run into the Severn Valley. I wanted to get the mileage up to 7000 so I could do an oil and filter change. It's interesting to make a comparison as I've also owned the 650 since it was new in 2019. Obviously the 650 is a lot heavier and with the mods I've made (bigger bore exhaust and Norman Hyde cans + a DNA air filter kit) it's quite torquey now. Out of the box the 650 was always a bit lacklustre I thought but now it's quite pleasurable to ride. There's one single track  lane I've discovered this year this year out of Bewdley for anyone with local knowledge  which rises very steeply and then descends just as quickly down to a ford (fortunately the water at the moment runs under a bridge ) and then the road climbs steeply up again. There's lots of countryside with views and quite a few farms with machinery you have to watch out for as they never seem to slow down for other vehicles. The Guerrilla is more easily manageable with its lighter weight but at the moment I can't use all the performance which I don't think will be lacking once I am able to.