In the dizzying pace that a modest specialty such as Trial is reaching, It’s strange that the undisputed world champion bike is at the evolutionary tail end of the industry. And we’re not talking about technology, since it could be the most cutting-edge. We refer to the term evolution and the constant work that factories do in search of motorcycles that are increasingly lighter and with better performance.
Montesa started an ambitious project with the Cota 4RT, but it stalled (at the level of mass production) the same day it saw the light of day. After seeing the resounding success of the Cota 315R from 1997 to 2004, the current stance, with a champion bike, has been surprising.
However, despite the fact that rumours are not common or well received in this specialty , at Trialworld we consider that talking about future projects, whether they are finally real or not (the case of the Gas Gas TXT 4T) is interesting for all fans. Perhaps for brands and their competitiveness it is not so tempting.
The fact is that, possibly, Montesa-Honda could be working on the launch of a new Trial bike, which would break with the schemes of the current Cota 4RT. In other words, it would not be an evolution, but a redesign.
No official source has confirmed the information, but rumors through different sources are getting stronger and stronger. Therefore, we simply make a note.
The most important thing about this possible rumor is that we would be talking about a bike with a four-stroke engine, maintaining the current philosophy and firmly positioning itself as the only sports bike to have a valve mechanic. This point doesn’t really surprise us, as Honda made an important decision in 2005 to abandon 2-stroke engines and is possibly interested in sticking to its position.
In any case, if the rumor ends up being confirmed, it would be great news for motorcycling, since a brand as emblematic as Montesa should be as popular in the market as it is in competition. Fans, fanatics and followers, there will never be a shortage of them, because we all know that Montesa-Honda is a lover of things well done. Hence the success.
Why a 4-stroke motorcycle?
It is curious that in a specialty as homogeneous as trial, where fast and agile mechanics are sought, more than 30 years ago Honda bet heavily on four-stroke engines at a time when motorcycles with perforated cylinders dominated the specialty.
There is a reason for Honda’s obsession with the 4T . Technical research has always been the workhorse of Soichiro Honda (1906 – 1991), the brand’s chief executive. That is why he thought that involving his models in high competition would help him to develop the engineering of his products to the highest level. Soichiro retired in 1973, leaving the company in the hands of Kiyoshi Kawashima. From that moment on, he devoted himself body and soul to the Honda Foundation, which aimed to achieve harmony between technology and respect for the environment. Consequently, within the technical racing department (HRC), different prototypes with eco-friendly four-stroke engines have always been present in any specialty.
History repeats itself
After that Eddy Lejeune, a bespectacled Belgian genius with the countenance of a mathematician, won three consecutive world titles for Honda – in 1982, 1983 and 1984 – things started to get tougher and tougher for the Japanese giant: Hondas lost ground to the new 2T generation, much simpler, lighter and with a monoshock. There was also speculation about a young man who, on the back of a Beta TR34, was revolutionizing the areas of the world championship with his aerobatic piloting. That young man, who would later become the best rider in history, was none other than Jordi Tarrés.
In 1988 Honda decided to completely disassociate itself from the world championship to focus on two-stroke engines. As a result of this great work, emblematic models such as the Cota 309 and 310 were born; the 311, with an aluminum chassis and hydraulic clutch option; or the 314R, which was the prelude to one of Montesa’s most ambitious and successful prototypes: the Cota 315R.
Later, in 2005, after a glorious period backed by the world titles of Colomer and Lampkin, the brand with the golden wing, encouraged by the severe environmental restrictions that plague us today, once again faced the same challenge of two decades ago: create a 4T capable of beating the Goliath of the nineties, the 2T.
Text: David Quer / images: photomontage
