A French Big Boy Coming By Way of China
First off, this bike won’t come to the U.S. At least, not anytime soon. Meet Mash’s first big motorcycle. It’s a 650cc bike that’s built with flat-track styling and as cool as all get out. The company sells its bikes in France, and has been selling smaller displacement motorcycles for some time now ranging from small 50cc machines to 400cc motorcycles.
This 650 is the first real move towards a large displacement motorcycle. All of the company’s bikes are built in China. Parent company Sima, based in France, distributes a whole bunch of brands according to RideApart, and Mash is just part of its portfolio.
While you might not be super thrilled by a Chinese-built flat-track motorcycle, you have to admit it has taken styling cues from several different bikes. I see bits of Harley-Davidson’s machines, Hondas, Triumphs and more. The company did its homework and made this thing look seriously cool. I wonder how good it is to ride.
The bike makes about 40 hp. It weighs 360 pounds dry, has 18-inch wheels, ABS, digital instrument clusters, and some reasonably sophisticated-looking suspension. I have no idea what the reliability or quality is like on Mash’s motorcycles, but with more and more motorcycle companies entrusting their production to Chinese facilities, I would imagine it’s pretty good. I would love to ride one and see how it goes. Unfortunately, this bike—and all of Mash’s bikes for that matter—are European-only models.
