Montesa Honda

As a successor to the previous model, Bultó designed a new 125cc roadster, which was tested in many of the trail-type rallies and semi-enduros that were popular in Spain at the time.

In May 1958, chief designer Bultó left, taking with him several of Montesa's vital personnel to form a competitive firm, Bultaco.

Permanyer promoted the all-around champion motorcyclist Pedro Pi from head test rider to chief development engineer.

Work began right away on designing a brand new all-unit-construction 175cc engine that by 1960, would power the latest Impala sports roadster model.

Back in Spain, Pi was busy winning the Spanish motocross and road race championships and working on a new 250cc version.

Unlike Bulto's bike, the Bultaco, Montesa only sent a small percentage of its production to the United States, concentrating mostly on the European market.

[citation needed] The 1974 film Freebie and the Bean directed by Richard Rush features a famous urban trail chase action scene, where the main character Freebie (James Caan), an unorthodox policeman, takes a Montesa Cota 247 from a casual bypassing rider.

", and starts a chase after the bad guys, running over cars, stairs, public fountains, etc., until the bike is lost and damaged, lasting for more than three minutes in total.

A loan from the government and shares sold to Honda (to establish a European manufacturing base for their commuter bikes) helped production continue.

Honda was prepared to stockpile trial bikes and to sell them off at a loss in an effort to reach Europe's more profitable market and to bypass restrictive import tariffs.

[citation needed] In July 1985, a major reorganization took place and a large amount of money from Honda was received.

Even though reduced to only offering one model, the Cota, such riders like former World Champion Eddy Lejeune and Andrew Codina rode the bike to good results in the mid-'80s.