A Mini ADVENTURE
There is much said about ‘adventure bikes’ in the press nowadays, and with good reason. Machines such as the BMW GS, Honda Africa Twin and the like are superb for mile-munching treks across continents, and for impressing bystanders with their size, spec and price. But we can’t help but feel that they’re missing something. After all, you can have an adventure on any kind of motorbike, as we set out to prove…
Lexmoto Vendetta, Mash Two-fifty
It was during our big scrambler trip down to London that the conversation turned to doing something exciting on smaller capacity bikes, and I happened to mention that I wanted to try a long distance trial, and that there was one taking place in County Durham in October. “Great idea!” says Mikko, ”get it organised!”
And so it was that myself and Ross committed to trying out two smaller, alternatively styled bikes for a weekend, although Mikko did manage to find an excuse (washing his hair I think), timed impeccably with the long-distance forecast suggesting rain and falling temperatures. It turned out to be his loss…
The bikes we’d chosen were a pair of Chinese-built 250cc machines, both with retro styling in the ‘street scrambler’ direction, although the nod in the direction of off-road ability was little more than just some road-biased knobbly tyres and a pair of braced handlebars.
Given that our initial thought was that the little 250s wouldn’t feel at home on the long slog along the M62 and A1M from Lincolnshire to County Durham, we chose a far more interesting and suitable route. Heading north from Lincolnshire, over the popular Caistor High Street (named for its height above sea level, and not because it runs through the centre of Caistor), and through the Lincolnshire Wolds, before a blast along the A15 to the Humber Bridge (free for bikes, but with a toll for cars). After weaving past Beverley, Market Weighton and Pocklington, we cut into the lanes across to Stamford Bridge and thence to the A64 and to the impressive parkland through Castle Howard.
After a photograph stop by the estate’s obelisk, we continued on to Helmsley, which was halfway through market day and crammed full of cars, but still justified a stop for a pub lunch and a chance to thaw out in front of an open fire.
Bellies full, we headed north out of Helmsley, on the superb B1257, cutting west from Chop Gate along some stunning single track, to join the A172 and then the A19 to head north, over to Yarm and across to Darlington, fighting our way through the centre of Darlo before finding the A68 across to West Auckland and thence Tow Law and the Brown Horse pub. Two-hunded-and-fifty miles, and neither bike missed a beat.
Trialling time
The details of the long distance trial are covered elsewhere here, but what was perhaps most surprising was how tough these little bikes are, given the nature of the terrain that we covered, both on green lanes and special stages. Despite the lowslung exhaust on the Lexmoto, all it collected was mud and grass, although the gear lever did take a clout at some point, bending the tip so I couldn’t get my toe underneath, and necessitating upshifts by using my heel. And the Mash just blitzed through it all, only hindered by the road-focused tyres, although the weight did cause some issues as, while they’re really light by road bike standards, compared to dedicated offroaders, these two are positively obese.
Returning, broken
While both bikes coped surprisingly well over the gruelling terrain – given the tyres and weight – the same can’t be said for the riders, particularly the elder of the two… Long-distance trials are a little more physical than we might have expected, particularly when you’re hauling overweight road bikes with tyres like slicks over wet and greasy green lanes…
So, folding aching limbs astride the little retros on the Sunday morning, we pointed them south, this time via the North York Moors, with the thought of heading back via a coastal town of some kind, maybe grabbing fish and chips en route.
This went a little pear-shaped, as we were travelling ad hoc, with no satnav, and only the occasional glance at an online map as we passed through Castleton. But that’s the way I like it – just winging it – and it only adds to the sense of adventure. Rather than simply heading for Scarborough, and the less exciting A170 and A64, we bimbled through Kirbymoorside, and thence to Malton, finding some superb roads on the way, before stumbling across Seaways café just west of Wetwang, with a car park full of bikes of all forms, which seemed a suitable time for a break and a brew.
Then it was a swift blat to the Humber Bridge, and a retracing of our Friday route back through Lincolnshire, arriving home with enough daylight to hose the bikes down, and to notice that we’d covered exactly 500 miles in two-and-a-half days on these little bikes.
Lexmoto Vendetta
Unusually for a bike of this capacity, the Vendetta is powered by a vee twin engine, rather than a single, but like so many bikes of this ilk, the engine is based upon a powerplant from an earlier Japanese motorcycle, with the engines being made under licence by the Chinese factory in question.
In this case, the engine is an updated version of the Yamaha Virago 250, now with fuel injection, but retaining the original’s single overhead cam and two valves per cylinder. And with the stainless exhaust system and single short can, it sounds absolutely superb.
Given its capacity, it is surprisingly flexible, and perfectly capable of pulling top gear (in the five speed ’box) around town.
While these bikes are basic, with the only nod to modern concessions being the obligatory ABS, the Vendetta does have a USB port mounted just behind the headlight; ideal for those folk who like to have a bar-mounted device of some kind.
Practicality abounds as it’s really
“It is surprisingly flexible, and perfectly capable of pulling top gear (in the five speed ’box) around town.”
easy to fit soft luggage to, particularly a tail pack, thanks to the shape of the seat and the pillion grab rail, although as the seat is quite short you have to ensure that everything is as far back as possible, and throwover panniers would probably be just as easy, given the low exhaust can height and the supportive side panels.
The switchgear is bog-basic, essentially the same as switchgear was on Japanese bikes 30-plus years ago with just the mere necessities of lights, start/stop, indicators and horn, but it all works perfectly well. A rev counter has priority on the single round clock, while a digital speedo is perfectly legible, although the fuel gauge seems to change its mind depending on the direction you’re heading and whether you’re heading up or down hill or going around corners. But then, when it’ll do nigh on 90mpg, who cares what the gauge says, just fuel up whenever you need a rest!
While the 17bhp or so that the air-cooled twin pumps out means that dual carriageways are taken at licence-friendly speeds, it’s still possible to keep up with traffic, and the Vendetta will spin up to 80mph if the conditions are right, although you do have to be wary of repmobiles sat up your tail pipe in the fast lane. Clearly, the quarter-litre bikes are happier away from dual carriageways and motorways, and the cross-country ride we had was perfect territory for the little vee twin – that gorgeous exhaust note echoing off drystone walls, flicking through sun-dappled lanes with the Timsun knobblies being surprisingly grippy and confidence-inspiring. If you rate a bike by the way it generates smiles, then you’ll like this one!
As a small-capacity bike, it’s fairly roomy, and comfortable enough for a full day in the saddle, and while the footpegs are quite rear set for a scrambler, they work very well with the motocross bars, giving ergonomics that work far better than they sound like they should.
The gear shift is positive, if not quite as smooth as some gearboxes, but still of a standard to compare to Japanese machinery.
The clutch is light, and the brakes effective if a little wooden in feel, although there was more feedback from the front during the homewardbound trip, probably thanks to the pads bedding in to the disc.
The styling is, in my eyes, near perfect for a street scrambler, being minimalist, but with the requisite additions of sump guard and headlight grille, while the oval side panels/number boards and fork gaiters add to the classic off-road demeanour. Unlike modern offroaders, it hasn’t got a sky-high seat height with a perch so narrow as to give a proctologist nightmares yet, as this article aims to prove, it can still be used for off-road riding, to a certain degree. Having said that, there will probably be very few Vendettas (or, for that matter, any bike that is styled as a street scrambler) that will venture off tarmac, but that argument could also be used for just about any adventure bike too…
The once-desultory quality of bikes built in China seems to have been consigned to history now, if the finish of these two are anything to go by, with a decent thickness of paint and powdercoat, fasteners that haven’t started to go rusty at the mention of the word water, and an all-round feeling of solidity and dependency. The only reason we needed to lay spanners on either bike was to remove the mirrors before the trial, and to tighten up the Lexmoto’s chain after it had become a little saggy after the off-road fun.
Mash Two Fifty – Ross
Never heard of Mash before? The French brand has been around for a few years, building up a decent reputation with its eclectic range of retro-styled Chinese import 125, 250 and 400cc singles. They were looked after in the UK by HQB before it went bust last year, but now it’s in the safe hands of the UK arm of MotoMondo, a Dutch company that’s been importing bikes across Europe for years.
I’ve ridden a few bikes from Mash over the years, spending time on the Dirt Track 125, Black Seven 250 and TT40 (its bikini-faired 400cc café racer). They’ve impressed. Simple, straightforward, stylish and good value for money, they’re a sure sign that the bikes coming out of China are becoming ever more capable with each passing year. But there’s really only one way to see if the bikes from Mash truly stand up to the test: get my hands on one and cover some big miles while pushing it right to its limit.
So that’s exactly what I did, borrowing a ’70s-inspired Two Fifty scrambler and heading up to the Long Distance Trial in County Durham to tackle some tricky offroad terrain alongside Dave on his slightly left-feld choice.
First impressions of the little scrambler were positive. It looks the part with its spoked wheels clad with knobblies, bench seat and braced bars. From afar you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for something much older (a 60s Triumph or a 70s Honda), but on approach the LED headlight and generic modern switchgear immediately give it away that this is something a bit more up-to-date.
It drew a lot of looks from the hardcore contingent who turned up at the LDT on old school trials bikes, who were clearly impressed by the classic styling of the stripped-back scrambler. A bash plate would have been a nice addition and I wouldn’t have minded an upswept exhaust system either, but it’s important to remember that Mash hasn’t exactly been designed to be smashing over rocks and razzing down dried-up riverbeds. It’s a scrambler in style more than function – but regardless, that doesn’t mean it’s not capable of handling a bit of off-road action. I’ll come back to that though, as first I want to get into how it performs on the road.
It's definitely most at home on back lanes and B-roads, feeling light, agile and thoroughly flickable. It tips in easily with a nudge on the bars, and the knobbly tyres didn't cause any problems, even on rainsoaked tarmac that’d been chewed up by farm traffic. It’s plenty quick enough to sit on A-roads, while a couple of short stints on the motorway proved the 250cc single cylinder motor will get up to above 70mph.
“It’s definitely most at home on back lanes and B-roads, feeling light, agile and thoroughly flickable. It tips in easily with a nudge on the bars, and the knobbly tyres didn’t cause any problems...”
You’re working the engine very hard to get there though, so it’s much kinder to not wring its neck for long periods and sit at a much more comfortable 60mph. The brakes aren’t anything to write home about, but they were more than capable of pulling the bike to a halt quickly and safely without too much trouble.
The suspension’s pretty basic, but it proved perfectly capable of bounding over all the lumps and bumps the road threw at it, maintaining a decent balance between performance and comfort. Speaking of comfort, while the Two Fifty isn’t exactly the roomiest of rides, I was perfectly happy covering over 500 miles across three days with no aches or pains (and I’m not exactly the shortest of riders, standing over 6ft tall).
I know Dave didn’t get on quite so well, so you could probably argue it’d be better suited to a slightly shorter rider. The simple controls fall to hand easily, and the basic dash offered all the information I needed, including a digital fuel gauge to keep an eye on how far I could go before filling up again.
While the build quality of the Mash doesn’t exactly stack up when compared to the biggest names in the game, for a budget bike there’s a decent level of finish and everything works as it should. Most importantly, the bike was more than up to the task and took a fairly severe beating as we careened across a varied range of challenging terrains during the LDT – and then made it back home afterwards. Okay, so I’ll admit, it wasn’t exactly the perfect bike for the job; a large contingent of the LDT were on old school trials bikes and at times the Mash was a bit out of its comfort zone, but it surprised me with just how well it coped. It managed some steep hill climbs, some tight nadgery sections and some boulderladen downhill sections too.
Its main downfall was its tyres, which didn’t have quite enough grip for some of the more slippery sections of the trial. Swap the standard rubber out for something a little more serious and I’d have had a much easier time of it, but even though I was sliding all over the place, I still had a big smile spread across my face every minute we were off the Tarmac.
“Most importantly, the bike was more than up to the task and took a fairly severe beating as we careened across a varied range of challenging terrains during the LDT – and then made it back home afterwards.”
I reckon the Mash Two Fifty is cracking. It’s a simple bike and it makes no bones about it, but despite its simplicity it took a tough three days of riding in its stride.
If you’re working your way up through the licences, or you’re happy blatting about on a smaller capacity bike and you love the look, it’s well worth a go.
Conclusion
Those of you who are still thinking that in order to have fun your motorcycle has to have a large engine capacity need to think again. Equally, if you’re of a mind that Chinese bikes are cheap and disposable machines just suitable for the daily commute, then take another look.
Both of these bikes provided huge entertainment over three days, covering 500 miles of very varied riding without a hint of inadequacy. Although most people will probably consider them as a second bike to use on a regular basis in order to keep the ‘posh’ bike for Sunday best, they’re both capable of being primary transport too. Either way, at under three grand – and Lexmoto do finance involving a mere £100 deposit and only £57.99 for monthly payments – these bikes are absolute bargains, and can justifiably be considered as being ‘proper bikes’ that can undertake some proper biking adventures.
While the Lexmoto and Mash weren’t quite right for the long distance trial, some more off-road focused tyres (ideally trials rubber), and lowered gearing would have made the world of difference. But, as it was, we still had an absolute hoot, and given that we rode there and back in perfect comfort, it kind of proves a point I think?
“Both of these bikes provided huge entertainment over three days, covering 500 miles of very varied riding without a hint of inadequacy. Although most people will probably consider them as a second bike to use on a regular basis in order to keep the ‘posh’ bike for Sunday best, they’re both capable of being primary transport too.”