[Mafia]

Originally Posted by nr07

While the reviewers did not get a fair idea on foreign roads and most of them did not mention it, I saw one (perhaps the Autocar one) where they said suspension is almost like the Hunter so adios amigos from me!

RE has done this previously also. When they launched the Super Meteor in Rajasthans smooth roads to hide the hard suspension .

Not going to be surprised if the suspension is hard

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by bharath79

Is there a Showa unit? I thought it was a simple telescopic unit!

The brand name doesn't matter. What matters in suspension is the quality of internals used and calibration. It could be advertised as fancy Showa, KYB or WP but most if it is marketing talk at the lower end of the biking spectrum. All of these suspension manufactures have products ranging from bargain basement spec to top of the line electronic stuff.

[a_chelat]

I had to visit the RE Company Store today and in a happy coincidence, the Guerilla launch was happening at the same time. The Brava Blue definitely catches the eye and looked nice under the dull yellow lights. But we felt it could be a tad too flashy for our taste out on the road. Conflicting emotions on the contrasting alloy wheels - not sure if I love it or hate it I guess the black alloys at the rear will help tone down the "flashiness" aspect.

Yellow Ribbon was also on display and they have a Playa Black on TD duties. If I had to pick one, I will get the former; Playa Black looks a bit meh, though it won't offend anyone.

The TD queue was already long so didn't wait around for one. Unfortunately, the bike seems to be attracting more squids than one would expect. There was a small crowd around the display bikes as well so just clicked a few quick pics when I had the chance.

[Sebring]

I'm expecting only favourable reviews and to tell us all that this is better than Speed 400, as RE has spent a fortune to take reviewers to Spain

Originally Posted by Sudarshan42

Source-AUTOCAR, And here's Overdrive

[amyntor]

Originally Posted by Sebring

I'm expecting only favourable reviews and to tell us all that this is better than Speed 400, as RE has spent a fortune to take reviewers to Spain

No doubt about this. When the Himalayan 450 came out, every reviewer and their mothers were singing praises. Only when it got to the hands of the actual users, the full story came out. Personally, I can't say how disappointed I was when I test rode.

[hikozaru]

Originally Posted by Sebring

I'm expecting only favourable reviews and to tell us all that this is better than Speed 400, as RE has spent a fortune to take reviewers to Spain

Originally Posted by amyntor

No doubt about this. When the Himalayan 450 came out, every reviewer and their mothers were singing praises. Only when it got to the hands of the actual users, the full story came out. Personally, I can't say how disappointed I was when I test rode.

Everyone and their mothers said hunter handled great and that it is not thaaaaat heavy. It hides it weight really well on the move blah blah blah, It even got team bhp best bike of the year.

The reality was that 185kg is still a lot of weight to move around in the parking lot. Perhaps these reviewers are all weightlifting champions but I simply could not take the bike out on some tight parking slots in Bangalore. Especially when the roads are inclined. And everyone speaks about how stiff the rear suspension is, but no one, absolutely no one spoke about how soft the forks were. Some negatives never come to light even long term.

That said, I see only lukewarm reactions from all the reviews. You can see that with how people just read the spec sheet and marketing talk that it is developed in Spain with only a throwaway line saying, 'bike good'. The bike is so meh or indeed bad that they even had to say random stuff like '191 kg' payload as a positive point when it is only 4kg more than a duke 390. No one is gushing about the bike like they did for the Himalayan 450 or the Speed 400 or the Duke 390 or the Aprilia RS457. The seat is garbage for sport riding and tall people, bench seat is too hard for normal people, pillion comfort is bad on both seats. Some reviews mention the tyres are not amazing, and I cannot imagine RE making yet another bike that is somehow even more sluggish to turn than the hunter. I am afraid this is yet another stinker like hunter and journos seem to silently agree which I see as a good thing. Looks like RE has no taste and has got very greedy.

[jaganm]

“You mean a company takes me on an all expenses paid jaunt to Spain and I’m supposed to criticise it? What are you smoking buddy, the morals of Indian auto journalists is not that strong. “

Never buy a RE product based on initial reviews. Wait for a few months to pass and get real life reviews.

[Carpainter]

I have been to the launch event yesterday at a local dealership. It's a small ceremony. The bike felt nimble and the riding posture is like a roadster. The bike is narrow but like the Himalayan, the footrests were fouling with my legs when I put my foot down. Also, the 160 section rubber at the rear with no mudguard means it will get dirty in no time during monsoon. Some pictures:-

[ExOblivione]

Originally Posted by jaganm

“You mean a company takes me on an all expenses paid jaunt to Spain and I’m supposed to criticise it? What are you smoking buddy, the morals of Indian auto journalists is not that strong. “

Never buy a RE product based on initial reviews. Wait for a few months to pass and get real life reviews.

Ryan, of the FortNine fame, made a video addressing this very thing, over 6 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgGU3GYx9Qg

Of course, everything he says seems obvious, or at least should be, but too often the press's sayings are taken uncritically without taking context into account.

Fully paid and curated press trips are effectively bribery with more steps.

To add to what he said, even if the journalist is fully committed to being unbiased, just the fact that he is flown to an exotic locale, set up in a great hotel, wined and dined, put with good like-minded company, fawned over and taken on tours of great roads, all without the negatives of having to care about the minutiae of trip planning and execution and without worrying about your money evaporating like a puddle in the Sahara (as is normal on vacations), will put him in a very good mood.

And we all know that when we are in a good mood, the world seems brighter and everything looks rosy. We feel kinder, more forgiving, and everything associated with the cause and in the presence of what's giving us that great experience is seen in the same glow.

So being anything approaching unbiased is impossible in that situation, and add to that press houses knowing in the back of their minds that if they piss off a brand, they won't be invited to further soirees and not be able to put out content as quickly as a competitor who bent the knee, giving brands a lot of power to shape the narrative.

I just watch these "reviews" for the entertainment, but it's impossible to trust anyone whose very job depends of accepting largesse and not doing so can end them, all at a brand's whims

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by Sebring

I'm expecting only favourable reviews and to tell us all that this is better than Speed 400, as RE has spent a fortune to take reviewers to Spain

Sebring, every car and motorcycle manufacturer flies automobile journalists and influencers to different parts of the country and the world, to test drive / ride their recently launched products.

How is Royal Enfield flying journalists to Spain for a product launch any different from their competitors hosting the very same journalists in a 7 star property in India?

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by ExOblivione

Ryan, of the FortNine fame, made a video addressing this very thing, over 6 years ago.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=sgGU3GYx9Qg

Of course, everything he says seems obvious, or at least should be, but too often the press's sayings are taken uncritically without taking context into account.

Fully paid and curated press trips are effectively bribery with more steps.

Precisely. Even if the reviewer tries to be unbiased, it's hard to find faults when you are in a great mood with all the pampering they recieve on these mass media rides, especially in exotic locations. And you hardly have any time to really think about the bike with all the photography, video & walkaround sessions they have to get involved in. It's a very carefully engineered psychological manipulation by the marketing teams of manufacturers. It has been rampant in recent years especially after the social media marketing boom. I don't want to get into that topic in deep as the discussion is on the Guerrilla 450.

I did like how Bajaj/Triumph conducted the media ride in India under real world riding conditions and traffic. iirc, there was torrential rain on the day of media rides. But that's what we want to know, how a bike behaves in real world conditions.

You can argue that these are first rides but the current marketing tactics rely heavily on the sales and bookings gathered by the first wave of hype after the launch of a motorcycle. A lot of media houses delay or don't even conduct a full on road test afterwards and they don't get the same interest as first ride videos because the hype has died down.

[Sebring]

You're right but it's not a good practice and I'm not trusting them anymore, and have stopped watching reviews, is what I'm conveying. They need to hold these under Indian riding conditions. By the way, I do like the Motorinc format.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

How is Royal Enfield flying journalists to Spain for a product launch any different from their competitors hosting the very same journalists in a 7 star property in India?

[hikozaru]

Originally Posted by b16h22

I did like how Bajaj/Triumph conducted the media ride in India under real world riding conditions and traffic. iirc, there was torrential rain on the day of media rides. But that's what we want to know, how a bike behaves in real world conditions.

Noooooooooo, you don't understand. Bajaj and Triumph did a rainy day ride to hide engine heat. /s

Originally Posted by b16h22

Precisely. Even if the reviewer tries to be unbiased, it's hard to find faults when you are in a great mood with all the pampering they recieve on these mass media rides, especially in exotic locations. And you hardly have any time to really think about the bike with all the photography, video & walkaround sessions they have to get involved in. It's a very carefully engineered psychological manipulation by the marketing teams of manufacturers. It has been rampant in recent years especially after the social media marketing boom. I don't want to get into that topic in deep as the discussion is on the Guerrilla 450.

Great point. I think this is where written reviews have more leeway because the writer has some time to pen down their words after the hype in a calmer place. With video reviews, they can hardly go back to the press stands, pose with the bike and reshoot their thoughts without being hyped up mildly again by the environment.

This is why I really like motorinc's first format. They have managed to decouple video (or audio) reviews well from the hype infested launch environments. The fact that they do not even bother to put out a review on the day of the embargo and instead work on their own schedule is great for letting the hype wash away. Recording the reviews in their own familiar space, in comfort, in their studio adds an element of lab like consistency and reduces variances due to hype, organising failures (or successes) and other things. In a way, they have managed to bring back written reviews for a 2020s audience.

Slightly unrelated but adding some more points to avoid sounding like a motorinc shill, Sarge also does great work, possibly the least biased journo and the most experienced. I quite like how he reviews all the bikes on the same course, much like motorinc's first studio. And his follow up videos after a first ride just put other media houses' comparos and things like motorinc view to shame.

[Balaji31582]

Thanks to everyone who shared the real world pictures. I somehow feel the seat even though looks wide and is single piece, somehow isn't making me to feel comfortable. Of course, the real time test will be the rational way but I just got this as I immediately saw those live pictures.
On a different note and off topic, Being a RE owner for more than 15 years, I will take a test drive after a month or so to understand how the bike takes the beatings. For example, my TBTS has to get chain adjusted minimum after every 750 kms. My yamaha FZs25 never needs that. You can call whatever the model of bike is. Not sure what modern RE bikes (yes mine is 2008 only but still its not modern and yay, i love it as how it is) are demanding in terms of maintenance but sure the legacy Yamaha bikes weren't demanding too much.

[HartBandit]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbpq1TCRpOY

Review by someone who was not flown to Barcelona. It's in Hindi.