Ive only had this for about 2.5 yrs or so....i was working at a machine shop and noticed it in the back of a truck that a guy I worked with had driven in..i asked him about it and he said it was on its way to the dump..i couldnt let that happen...i took it home and a few weeks later ha brought me all the missing side panels..Its a shame this was left out in the rain for so many years.. the rear wheel is locked up as is the engine...Most of the nickel on the frame is gone.... and as you can see there is a lot of rust...

Not sure what I might end up doing with this...needs a lot of time and money compared to the Bultaco..

 

Do you have any idea what class size this bike is? my cousin had a 1968 Montessa 250 Enduro that was setup for cross country racing that was setup especially as a hill climber it was a very fast 2 srtroke with an 8" rear sprocket that would tach out as fast as you could shift the gear's , the last time we rode it my cousin was following me in his 1965 Ford Galaxy 500 he told me he hit 70mph iand i was still pulling away from him when he rear tire locked up from mud that was packed up around the fender when he saw black smoke coming from the back tire ; it skidded over a 1000 yrds just before it stopped just as i was intering into a sharp curve on backtop !

Montessa was the parent company that also built Bulltaco and Ossa , there's a Industrial Supply company in my hometown that has in his show room some Classic cars and a Montessa , Ossa and a Bulltaco ; and all 3 of these bikes are all original and look like they just rolled off the assembly line i would like to get hold of one of these 3 bikes but he told me they're not for sale at any price !

If i were you i'de consider restoring it if you can still get part's for it , you would sure have a bike that would a collector's item ; good luck with whatever you deside to do !.....
williebee......

 

Its a 250...forgot to mention that..

I didnt know that Ossa, Bultaco and Montessa were related..Thats kinda cool..

I do know there are lots of parts available but this machine needs so much of what I dont have right now money and time..It would sure be beautiful restored thats for sure.

Thanks for the vintage bench racing..

 

Sold this about a month ago... Needed cash and also realized Ive got too many projects, and not enough time and or money for all of them..

sold it for $275.00

 

Thats a neat old bike, MWQ. Brings back memories of drooling all over the pages of cycle mag back then wanting one of the montessas. I might still have some of those old mags put away somewhere. If I get a chance I'll hunt them up and try to share some of the old adds and photos.

 

I dont have any mags before about 79.. the year I moved out... must have tossed them as I left home... Id love to see any old pics/ads you can find..

I never got attached to this bike like i did the Bultaco, so it wasnt so tough to sell... and it needed a LOT of time and money..guy that bought it also bought a 78 Husky 360 that was about 80% complete but also had a locked up engine.. He wants my Bultaco if I sell it to.. I might have to let it go and that is one im gonna miss...But Ive always wanted a mid 70's Maico to rebuild..maybe someday?

 

I know, I've got a bunch of early 70s Cycle mags packed away, but it might be a challenge to find them. I'm my part of the country, I never saw many of the other brands of bikes other than the big 4 and Harley, in person anyway. I can only recall seeing 1 Hodaka and an old Bridgestone 175. There was one other, but for the life of me can't remember the brand. I like the old bikes tho somewhat powerless by todays standards they're still alot of fun to ride around on. They turn heads too.

 

We had a few of almost everything in my neighborhood in the mid 70s(Pleasanton Ca)...Hodakas, Bultaco's, Montessa's, Penton/KTM's, CZ's, Maico's.. Lots of different bikes for some reason..

I had a Bridgestone 100..4 speed I think with a rotary shift pattern.... neutral...4 down... keep shifting down at 4th and you got neutral and 1st thru 4th again..also had a 73 CZ 250.. it had been upgraded to a 5 speed, mikuni carb and moved up konis... very cool at the time..

 

I wish I had seen that many different ones back then. I happened to remember the other one that I saw. It was a Matchless from the late 50s is my guess since so many years have passed. I tried a couple of times to buy it back in the early 70s but they wouldn't part with it. I never could understand why since it was just a pile of rust sitting beside thier garage but to each his own I suppose So far no luck on the old mags, but it's just a matter of finding the right box.

 

That montessa was a nice bike, I built up a 73 Rickman Zundapp a few years ago. Mine was in worse shape when I began, Also left to the rain, but I think it came out good despite that. It's still not done, but done enough to put aside for now to work on other projects. I did have to do an amazing amount of investigating into the Rickmans since I had no idea what I had when I got mine. I figured I would share some of the stuff I found.
The Rickman brothers were the custom bike builders of the day, they made their names building chasis and body kits on roadracing bikes which used engines from other companies (Honda and Triumph's were among the most desired). Many of these bikes are still coveted today. As builders they used the best parts they could find, and if they didn't like what was avalible, they made it themselves. As their business grew they started to produce off road motorcycles, using the same premium idea as their racing bikes. There was a variety on engines used but the most common in the early 70's was the 125 zundapp's and the 250 montessa. They became the bikes to have and the bike to try to beat. Unfortunately in 1974/1975 the jap bikes started to come out with their long travel and single shock style suspensions, and the Rickman's went from gold to old overnight. Sadly you don't hear much about the Rickman off road bikes after that.
The quality still shows ,My Rickman Zundapp came with a boch cdi ignition that was so advanced for the time it wasn't even offered on Zundapp's own off road 125's. The nickle plating was a nice touch, suspension was top notch for the time, anf the fiberglass was well made. There are many small things thought into the design like a chain oiler built into the swingarm. The only thing I don't like about it was the lucas electrics and bing carb (i guess you can't build everything)
The chasis of the 125 and 250 were similar, my manual even has both bikes in it, many parts are interchangable. Don't confuse Montessa or Zundapp as the bike builders, it was where the engines were sourced from (I know the Rickmans also produced bikes with Bulltaco and Ossa engines as well).
Like I said my 125 isn't finished but I was able to drive it around the parking lot, my build is for a rider bike not a museum restore and as such it was done on the cheap. I did not replate the badly rusted frame, I did have to refinish many parts. I may be willing to share some tricks to people who are attempting a similar build. contact me if you have any comments or questions.
This frame acually is not the one the bike was built with, its a spare that was acually in better condition than mine despite being chopped to have a different engine in it. I still have it if anybody wants it. The last pictures are how mine looks when I put it away a few years ago.