Mash Motorcycles X-Ride 650 Trail (2020 - ) review

Retro-style scramblers may be very fashionable, but few are as authentic-looking as the Mash X-Ride Trail. Mash is a French firm (named, incidentally, after the famous TV show) specialising in retro-style singles built in China. As such, they’re fashionable and affordable but also fairly basic and crude. The X-Ride Trail is one of its biggest and most convincing offerings. It’s based around a modernised version of Honda’s old air-cooled, 644cc single-cylinder motor, as used, some may remember, in the old NX650 Dominator. Built around a tubular steel frame it also brings to mind Yamaha’s 1975 XT500. If all that appeals for a little over £5,500 it could be very tempting. On the downside that retro-mod purity is diluted slightly by digital LCD clocks, build quality is rather crude and performance is very 80s, too, with limited practicality. To be fair there’s not much else like it, though.

As a ‘proper’ old-school, big-bore trail bike, the X-Ride manages to be both substantial and upright yet also, by being a single-cylinder machine, slim, light and manageable, too. It’s also simple and sufficiently straightforward to get along with. As a fun, short-hop weekend toy or city bike all of that is great, but the X-Ride’s limited performance, lack of wind protection and lumpy power delivery mean you won’t want to take it on extended journeys or motorways, pillions aren’t really a serious option and comfort wears thin after an hour or so. On the plus side it is capable of some gentle trail riding, should you wish to.

On paper the X-Ride is reasonably practical and versatile, given that’s why bikes like the XT500 became so popular in the first place, ultimately spawning even bigger adventure bikes. As a trail bike it was competent both on and off road while as a bigger engine variant it had passable performance. By modern standards, however, it’s now less versatile than you might think. Apart from the odd gentle green lane, the X-Ride is too big, heavy and crude for serious off-roading. Put bluntly its single can’t match slicker, smaller and more modern twins such as Honda’s more powerful CB500 family. It’s not particularly comfortable, either, and it’s no good over distance. As a cheap, eye-catching, fun or town bike it does have appeal, though.

As mentioned, the X-Ride uses a copy of Honda’s old NX650 motor, which lates back to the mid 80s. As an old-school, air-cooled single it has plenty of authenticity but there’s also no denying it’s outdated and lacking modern performance. Peak power is just 39 horsepower, the delivery and gearchange is crude, there’s not a whiff of modern electronic rider aids and, with its Chinese build, reliability and durability may be suspect, too. Still, as a 70s-style trail bike it certainly looks the part. Reckon on a top speed of 80mph, if you’re prepared to hang on. Braking, due to the fact the X-Ride uses a reasonably modern 280mm disc with twin-piston caliper, is slightly better, but is still nothing to write home about.

Another area thankfully more modern than the X-Ride’s ‘70s looks suggest, although it’s still not as good as it could be. True, it was always going to be a compromise of trail and road. It’s also got more modern, fully-adjustable 43mm forks and a monoshock in place of the Yamaha original’s spindly front end and twin-shock rear, but it’s still nowhere near a modern trail bike and also seems a little crude. Suspension is wallowy, steering a little vague, straight-line stability not what it could be, and so on. That said, its adjustability suggests it could be improved and, within the context of its underwhelming performance, it’s not too bad. But there are plenty of far better machines out there.

This should be one of the X-Ride’s ace cards. Along with its impressively affordable price of well under £6,000, the modest performance and fundamental simplicity mean its running costs should be low, too. We’d expect 60mpg-plus from the single-cylinder engine, and that limited performance means its hunger for consumables such as tyres, chains, brake pads and so on should be better than most other 650cc machines, too. We’d also expect its insurance and tax to be reasonable, too.

A bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. Although the X-Ride’s air-cooled engine is simple, understressed and based on a proven Honda design it’s also old, Chinese-built and, in this guise, doesn’t have much of a history behind it. For all its charm the Mash has a slightly budget feel to it as well, which doesn’t inspire massive confidence. That all said, we’ve no specific reason for concern nor have heard of any reliability issues.

Although Mash is a fairly new brand the X-Ride does come with a manufacturer-backed, two-year, unlimited mileage warranty for all parts and labour as standard, which matches the cover offered by more established manufacturers and should help confidence. Being such an old engine design servicing can’t match the extended intervals of more modern machines, but is decent enough being every 6,000 miles. Considering the type of bike it is high mileages are unlikely anyway and, once it does go in for a service, the simple engine and unfaired design should make working on it simple and affordable.

Not much to see here. As discussed, the X-Ride is effectively a modern recreation of a 1970s style trail bike, so equipment is naturally sparse. So … no electronic rider aids, no modes, no TFT dash (although it does have a digital LCD one) and no luggage or weather protection, either. But then, what did you expect for the price and style of bike?

If you fancy a retro style trail bike or scrambler as a fun, short-hop Sunday toy there are few as authentic-looking – or as affordable – as the Mash X-Ride. In that sense it has a lot going for it. Unfortunately, that’s also about where it ends. Performance is passable, but rough, the handling uninspiring and its practicality beyond city centres or the odd green lane limited. We’re also disappointed by the tacky LCD dash and crude detailing. Saying all that if you want an XT500-style 70s classic you can actually use, and one that would be fairly simple to improve, the Mash X-Ride has an appeal all its own.