Just watched this! My wife has banned me from riding motorcycles at seventy one and owning motorcycles since I was 13 years old. I've had a 90 Bore Manx Norton on the road and owned a DBD34 Gold Star in my late teens. I have so much steelwork in me now, that she doesn't think I would survive a chivvy down the road on my arse without ending up in a wheelchair, so no more bikes!! I sold my last one last year, a ZZR600E5 Kawasaki, If she pops her clogs before me, I'm going to get myself one of these Mash 400TT40's, I love this bike! I was one of your "Rockers or Greasers"! This bike, along with the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535cc and the new Interceptor, are reminiscent of the 60's, Brilliant bikes! New multi's are far too sophisticated! A real motorcycle should be serviceable by it's owner in under three hours! In an hour, if it's a Royal Enfield or a Mash! Go for it! You can keep your fancy multi cylinder bikes, you certainly don't need that kind of power today!!
A bit of info on the Mash 400s: About 90% of the tooling comes from the old Honda CB400SS & GB400, and the engine was also in the XR400. After Honda ended production, the tooling traded hands a few times before ending up in the hands of Zongshen Shineray who distributes the bikes through Mash, Genuine, and several other brands globally. They're not all that bad. Quality control is acceptable for Western markets, and since the tooling came from Honda rather than just being "cloned," engineering and parts availability aren't quite the tragedy some China bikes can be. They've only been available in the states since last year so we don't know how well Genuine's version will hold up here yet, but reports from Europe and India are generally favorable.
Mash owner here. Got a Black Seven 125. Looks like a old school Norton. Ride it as often as I can and I commute on it. Mash bikes are pretty old school, they shake, rattle and are noisy but mechanically they seem to be reliable. My bike's engine is based on the old Gn125. Quality is OK, welds are so so, paint is good on the tank etc but not so much in the frame etc. The crome (stainless steel) needs care as it's not best quality. Even so, I love it to bits, I actually traveled a bit on it. It's not for everyone, but they are neat and can be head turners. The B7 as 14lt tank which means you can almost make 500km in a single tank. Neat little things.
Just purchased this very same bike in this colour. This is a very accurate appraisal of this bike in most details. I too am tall and big at 6 ft 5 and it is an ok fit.....lots of character,enough power to keep you happy,it's all over at about 80 though but I think it would pull a tonne if you had a legal road too,it just would take quite a bit of tarmac,but in essence it's irrelevant.It will play quite happily with most modern stuff on a B road/ twisty A road where it matters using that lump of low down,mid range torque....those higher speed numbers as you get older don't really mean as much and perhaps that's why this bike appeals to riders that have been been around a bit and newer riders alike. The brakes are good,the handling is a revelation for such basic suspension....tyres never complain of any over work....finish too is very good. Biggest suggestions is to change the exhaust Cans...they are such a chocked up affair and are nearly solid.I put a pair of £100 no baffle open megaphone cans on mine, same retro style and it sounds like a Manx Norton now( nearly) and definitely free,d up power. Lovely bike if you want to be different....no regrets buying it. Also it gets more attention than any other bike I've owned by far.
I love Mash bikes. I love the way they look. Paris is full of them. At the top of my vacation bucket list is to rent a Mash in Paris and ride from the Boulevard Saint Michel to Mont Saint-Michel.
Love my TT40 , Mash are very good at what they do. It feels how it should, the mash military bike feels and looks how it should, and so on. Recommended for riding locally and it sure turns heads.
Your enthusiasm is contagious and spot on. It's a chance to ride your grandfathers 1st race bike. It's not out there to compete with the latest high power high tech ABS traction controlled farkled up wonder bike that costs an arm and a let. It''s fun blast to the past. A second bike that gets lots of smiles from other folks as well as yourself. It's like building something in your garage and then taking it out and being amazed you made it back home in one peace. But underneath it all hopefully it's built well and will last. That is the key. If they start building bikes like this that are simple with after market parts support and dealer ships it will catch on. I wish I could take it for spin for the smiles.
First class review.👍 I decided to buy one 2nd hand. It's fun to ride as you say completey different I own modern bikes also but this is more fun.😁 Maybe not the best on tight country bends but that's part of the fun.
I have a similar one in Chiang Mai. It does feel very basic like a tractor or being on an old fashioned threshing machine, at times, but it's still practical for the city and you can thread your way through traffic. I'm running it in, at the moment, so I haven't taken it to warp factor 9. As you said, it feels better with the torque at lower speeds. There are a load of local customizing shops here that work on these bikes and do all kinds of things to them. They are affordable, so unlike some retro bikes they're more of a people's bike.
Very Royal Enfield Continental gt looking. I think a nice free flow exhaust and re tune the intake would make a difference maybe one of the old SRX 600 engines would give it some ooomph??
The plastic is there because even at five grand the budget only stretches so far. It still has the look to attract people who can't afford a proper upmarket cafe racer but want one for weekend cruising.
Hi I life on the island (Hayling) watched some of your old vids didet realise the olive leaf was yellow once. And I go to the ice cream parlour like every day lol :)
This answered a big question I had. I'm looking at a Mash wondering how the low-end torque is & I'm glad to know it has some. I had a Suzuki 4-stroke 400cc single in 1983 & loved it for how light & nimble it was. Wonderful to push it hard on twisty roads but it was gutless down low. I think the flywheel was a styrofoam coffee cup because I stalled the engine all the time. Even a year after buying it. Frustrating. I believe the HP was around 25.
I left a review a few days back,I purchased one of these a month or so ago I also have a sports 650 triumph and was a bit worried it wouldn't cut the mustard....but it's a delight. Worth mentioning though like this review said,the cans are very restricted and I've fitted completely baffleless megaphone cans to mine and it's the bike it should have been...if the law would allow. It's what it needs to give it that bit of extra power to compensate for the cats, but the sound after is so so good you feel like you are on a Manx Norton single.....I don't want to ride my Daytona anymore, the Mash is much more of an event.good luck if you take the plunge on buying one
Mash is the only retro with the right look. And i mean the 18" wheels. All other bikes have 17" and that's a bit off if you want it to have the real "caff racer" feel. Maybe not that sharp in cornerong but come on. On this bike 100km/h through a tight corner has the same feel as my former cb400f had. I had them both.. Loved the old honda and love my Mash. 4500 problem free kilometers now. This winter it gets a new exhaust for better performance, British racing green paintjob, single seat,ECU tune, other switches and brown leather seat and tankstrap. And because it's a Chinese bike most of it is Aliexpress parts. Except for engine parts, those wil be replaced with Honda parts. In a few years i'll pull the engine and give it a Wiseco 416 kit with stage 2 camshaft for the Honda xr400r. The exhaust is a cb400ss exhaust from aliexpress with a afterwards welded on O2 sensor "bung". Including pro-welder for the bung €254,- to the Netherlands. Why so much for a cheap bike? I wil buy more bikes in the future, but won't sell this one. It's a great project bike. Especially because you can for instance bolt in a honda dominator 650 engine. Or a xbr 500 engine. Everything is possible. 😊
For around the same price you could get the new Royal Enfield 650 interceptor or GT which is A2 compatible, it’s a shame they’re not in the same price range as the new larger CC lexmotos
A MAJOR issue with Chinese bikes is that the moment you buy it the value drops to approx 1/3rd of the retail value as they do not hold their value and then the older they get they basically become scrap value
That is and isn't true. It depends, i covered this in my chinise vs Japanese motorcycles video. When I last looked in to it on a chinise bike can lose something like 50% after 2 years so if that bike cost 2k you lose £1000. Now say you get a YZF125cc from the prices when I looked after 2 year they sell for around 2-3k but cost £4500-£5000 so you lose less % but more money! In other words a 2k chinise bike costs less then the depreciation of the Japanese in time, in that example.
@@spicy110 Well to be honest for well know and highly branded bikes made in China yes they can keep most of their value. BUT the cheaper brands (aka Lexmoto etc) loses approx 50% of their value the moment the new bikes are sold then a further 50% within the first 6 months. So whilst a £2000 Lexmoto (aka the Venom) can be sold in a showroom for that price within 6 months you can find them for around £800 and insurance replacement value will put them at around that £800 value
Most if not all the Chinese bikes and especially engines are old Japanese tooling so comparing them gets a bit lost in the decades in between, you get a new old bike second time around which is no bad thing as there wouldn't be much of a 50cc to 400cc market otherwise, the Japanese much more quickly designed their own bikes/engines which costs more than buying their old tooling, MASH is actually HYOSUNG and that's an old 1980's Honda XR400 Engine sold to China via the tooling to make their own, it's been happening between developed and under developed industry's for 80 years, MASH seem to have found a niche in factory copies of mild one off customs so basically their Bikes were designed in a shed at the bottom of a Garden in wherever, again no bad thing.
@@spicy110 I don't think the Café Racer style sold well here in France, because it's a grand cheaper than the other Mash 400s. Personally it's exactly the look I was after and saves me the hassle of building one from a doner bike. At some point I may get a respray in Ducati red, and make a Ducati tribute. I wanted to get back into biking on a bike I could maintain myself (feelers gauges and oil changes ... done).
i think chinese bikes might do well in the a1 and a2 license categories in the UK atleast. as far as beyond that cant see them doing outstandingly, the people who can afford to buy new bikes can afford to buy brand name bikes and the nature of bikes those brand names do have a value.
What a lovely bike! The only gripe I have with it is that single cylinder. In my honest opinion, this would be a fantastic bike with a v-twin; single cylinders just don't sound all that great, unless they're on a dirtbike with a phat open exhaust, but even then, it just sounds like a 125 on steroids. I'd rather that lovely asynchronous purr of a v-twin. Other than that, it seems to be a decent bike. I don't understand the hate for Chinese bikes either, but to each their own, I guess.
It's not a rip snorting 400cc for sure, the gearing is very long so where as my drz440 isn't great on the motorway this is far more comfortable doing it without being too high up the rev range.
Its not old,its looks old,but in reality, it's old technology lol. I bet my made in china Suzuki GSX 250R could beat it off the line lol, It looks cool,i will give it that
So far 7 Yamaha executives watched this video. News flash all you manufacturers of motorcycles; China is going to kick your butts soon because a lot of people want basic bikes that don't require mortgages!
Lucky you aye. Covid free. Still a boring, tedious fella, aren't you. How are your clocks coming on? No doubt the works are from China, which is apt. Happy New Year.
@@spicy110 I know ... it's the sadness/anger that Czech(oslovak) Jawa ended up sucking EU grants for new 1000ccm and 1200ccm bikes that will never see the light of the day and went down of sticking (locally) rather popular and known brand on this. Imagine Triumph doing that. And then see what indian Jawa (yeah that started as sort of branch of European Jawa ...) came out with this year ... makes me sad. Even calling it 350 just to ring the nostalgia bell ... .... enough, sorry for the rant.
"Im just going to tuck behind the screen".... Transit flys past 🤣😂🤣😂... THESE ARE SHITE !! MY FRIENDS LASTED FOR 6 MONTHS AFTER 17 STAYS AT THE DEALERS ! He eventually got MOST of his money back as it was basically scrap !!!!
