When Neil Armstrong returned home after
his Moon landing, a Montesa was sitting in his
driveway, a surprise gift from Permanyer
Puigjaner, a great fan of any technical
advancement and not bad at recognising a
promotional opportunity either.
MOTOCROSS
The Cappra motocrosser was on the market in
1966 but Montesa was about to diversify.
Observed trials was virtually unknown in Spain
when, in 1964, the International Federation of
Motorcycling sent invites all over Europe to
participate in an event in Grenoble, France.
Pedro Pi went along as the Montesa
representative. Riding a modifi ed motocross
bike, he fi nished 13th.
Trials was a growing sport and the factory
started to take notice, producing a prototype
trials bike in 1966. Only 44 of the Trail 250s
were produced but Pi took one to a third in
competition against new rival Bultaco.
Spain had its own three-round trials
championship by 1968, which was won by
Pedro, and the Cota 247 was born. The Cota
had a very distinctive look. The standout
feature was the one-piece seat/tank unit
beautifully crafted in fi breglass, which was
awarded the Delta de Plata Industrial Adi-Fad
design prize.
The offi cial debut for the Cota 247 was at
the 1968 Scottish Six-Day Trial, with the
three-rider Montesa team scoring a third
overall. By the early ’70s, Montesa, Bultaco
and Ossa had done a lot to popularise trials.
In fact the sport was becoming so popular
that it attracted attention from the Japanese,
who started producing trials bikes. Montesa
brought out a new Cota, the Cota 25 kids’ bike
and then the Cota 123.
Next was the Cota 172, which was
presented to the public in 1974, and in 1976
the Cota 348 was released. In 1980, Swedish
rider Ulf Karlson put a prototype Cota 349 in
the record books by winning the world
championship. He also won his domestic
crown every year from 1976 to 1983.
By the early ’80s, the Spanish economy was
suffering and trials was in decline. Both
Bultaco and Ossa eventually went under, only
to be revived 25 years later. After a three-
month strike, Montesa survived due to a loan
from the Spanish government and a buy-in by
Honda in Japan.
The marriage wasn’t without teething
problems, as some Honda parts gave trouble.
One example was the front wheels, which had
never given a problem until Japanese hubs
were used, and they became a common point
of failure.STYLING
The Ulf Karlson replica pictured in our studio
shots is a 247 and you can see for yourself the
distinctive styling that makes it impossible to
mistake it for anything else. The bright red
seat/tank unit catches the eye, as does the
polished engine cases and header pipe curving
over the head to exit at the rear guard. It is
highly polished as is the front guard.
The large stylised “M” sets off the left
sidecase, but some versions of the Cota had it
on both sides. The headlight and horn are
tucked in well away from potential damage but
the rubber-mounted taillight is ready to reduce
the population explosion. The speedo is
mounted on the right fork leg, an odd but
common practice for trials bikes at the time,
which had to be road legal for the Scottish
Six-Day. The 247 weighed only 88kg and
made 19hp at 6500rpm.
A loose translation of Cota is “coat of arms”
and it was meant to imply that the bike was
the king of trials. Early Cotas were four-
speeders but this was soon increased to fi ve
and then six. Advantages claimed over the
Bultaco Sherpa were a gear-driven primary
drive and a smoother delivery of power from
lower in the rev range.
In 1975, ADB #2 tested a 172 Cota
back-to-back with a Yamaha TY175 andTHE LAST REAL
MONTESA COTA WAS
A LIQUID-COOLED 311
WHICH ENDED ITS RUN
IN 1993
The distinctive fi breglass seat/
tank unit won a design award