In a 1986 article in Cycle World, Koichi Hirose broke the news of a ‘Honda/Harris Super-Single’: “A racing Single from the shop of Tetsu Ikuzawa has been released for competition. This racebike is called the TH1R, and its powerplant is an XR600R-based RS600D engine built by HRC for dirt-track racing in America. This four-stroke Single has a claimed 61 bhp at 7000 rpm. But perhaps of more interest is the TH1R frame, which is built by the Harris firm in England. This is the same frame design used by Harris in building Japanese multi-cylinder café racers…On a short circuit in Japan where a lap record of 58 seconds had been set by a GP machine in the 500cc class, and where the 250cc record was one minute flat, the TH1R unofficially turned a lap in one minute, four seconds – impressive for a one cylinder four-stroke.”
Tetsu Ikuzawa is one of Japan’s most successful automobile racers – he won the Japanese Grand Prix twice as well as the Fuji Grand Champion Series, plus he was the first Japanese driver to compete in championships such as British Formula Three, European Formula Two, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But Tetsu’s racing career started with motorcycles and he has been incredibly passionate about them over his entire life. We highly recommend that you check out a story he put up on his personal site about his motorcycling life back in May of 2008 which covers everything from his first bike through the creation of his dealership “Team Ikuzawa” in 1984 and expansion into apparel and racing.
Team Ikuzawa (a dealership that Alan Cathcart called “the world’s classiest bike shop“) became known as specialists in both Hondas and British bikes. They started to offer their own parts, which led to making conversion kits and then full-on race bikes.
Per Tetsu, “I’m particular about everything, but my obsession with motorcycles has escalated even further. I even manufactured my own motorcycle, called Ikuzawa! Japan has four motorcycle manufacturers: Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki, but I became the fifth Japanese motorcycle manufacturer. What I wanted to do was to have “Ikuzawa” written in the owner’s section and the vehicle name section of the vehicle registration! I manufactured about 20 units and sold them all over the world. Now they are extremely valuable and rare motorcycles.” Today, Iconic is proud to offer one of those machines – the third one built and the first one to come to the United States.
The Ikuzawa is briefly mentioned in a 1988 Motorcycle International review of the Gilera Saturno (another fascinating 80s attempt at a low-production single-cylinder sportbike). We defer again to the legendary Alan Cathcart, who notes the rarity of the TH1R and that Tetsu was looking for a European engine for a planned successor that never materialized:
“From time to time, there have been various efforts to breed an Anglo-Japanese hybrid which offered the best of both worlds by combining a readily-available Japanese engine in a specially-built British chassis. Most notable of these is the Ikuzawa-Harris Honda TH1 R which is arguably the cream of the current oriental singles crop. However, Tetsu Ikuzawa has never sold as many of the beautifully-made, fine-handling bikes as he’d hoped for. The sort of money he inevitably had to charge for a hand-made, limited-series bike, combined with the fact that it had a Honda engine, even one loaded down with special HRC parts, provoked major customer resistance. It was not a thoroughbred, reasoned his customers.”
“The obvious solution was to look for a European made engine that could be substituted for the Honda. The Rotax proved too heavy and has been around for a while in lots of other bikes. The KTM LC4 isn’t a proven quantity and would require modification from its offroad spec. Weslake, Godden and all the other speedway-based engines need too much work to convert them to road use. This left the Gilera Dakota as the ideal candidate. Ikuzawa actually visited Gilera at the end of 1986 with none other than Roberto Gallina, who might have designed and built the resultant Italo-Japanese single had the deal come off. However, Gilera gave Tetsu the polite brush-off, leading him to abandon the project. Unbeknownst to Ikuzawa, the Italian factory was already in negotiation with another Japanese company several million times larger than the not inconsiderable Ikuzawa empire to develop and manufacture a Gilera-engined motorcycle almost identical to the one he had in mind. The company was and is C Itoh & Co, one of the three largest corporations in Japan, and therefore one of the world’s top ten. The Gilera Saturno Bialbero is the result. If you should say to yourself that its chassis looks remarkably similar to the Harris frame for the Ikuzawa Honda-well, the Japanese have been known to copy successful designs.”
This example is VIN: TH1R003, Engine #: RS600DE0006157.
We were not able to see the VIN stamped on the frame.
There is no odometer, true mileage is unknown.
The seller is the original owner, he purchased it new directly from Ikuzawa. “This bike was commissioned to Ikuzawa in 1987/88 and was the first bike in the United States by Ikuzawa. I raced the bike as a privateer and it has been in storage in my collection since.”
“I have all of the correspondence with Ikuzawa during the build and delivery stages
.” The seller’s correspondence include several handwritten and typewritten letters as well as photo prints of marketing materials and the build process of this specific bike.
A letter to the owner confirms the exact specifications of the build:
ENGINE: LATEST SPECIFICATION OF HONDA RS600D RACING ENGINE WITH CLOSE RATIO GEARS (not flat tracker specifications)
In 1989, the seller had Muzzy’s R&D rebuild and hop-up the motor with titanium valve springs and a Muzzy camshaft.
FRONT FORK: HIGH PERFORMANCE ITALIAN RACING CERIANI FRONT FORK.
REAR SWINGING ARM: LATEST SPECIFICATION LIGHT WEIGHT ALLOY SWINGING ARM.
FRONT FORK YORK (YOKE*): LIGHT WEIGHT ALUMINUM ADJUSTABLE FRONT FORK YORK FITTED.
EXHAUST SYSTEM: LATEST SPECIFICATION HAND MADE STAINLESS PIPE TWIN EXHAUST SYSTEM FITTED.
Maintenance:
In preparation for the listing, the seller had us perform a safety inspection, change the engine oil/filter, rebuild the carb, clean/lube/adjust the chain, flush the hydraulic fluids, and drain the carb. Our service department notes the following on their condition report:
Gas Tank Internal Condition: Ok (Aluminum Tank)
Engine Oil Level: Low
Engine Oil Quality: New
2T Oil Level: N/A
Coolant Level: N/A
Coolant Quality: N/A
Front Hydraulic Fluid Level: Ok
Front Hydraulic Fluid Quality: New
Rear Hydraulic Fluid Level: Ok
Rear Hydraulic Fluid Quality: New
Clutch Hydraulic Fluid Level: N/A
Clutch Hydraulic Fluid Quality: N/A
Final Drive Condition: Cleaned, Lubed, Adjusted
Headlight High Beam: N/A
Headlight Low Beam: N/A
Passing Light: N/A
Parking Light: N/A
Turn Signals: N/A
Tail Light: N/A
Brake Light (Front Switch): N/A
Brake Light (Rear Switch): N/A
Plate Light: N/A
Horn: N/A
Kill Switch: Ok
Brake Pad % Remaining Front: 90%
Brake Pad % Remaining Rear: 90%
Forks: Ok
Shock/s: Leaking with Bumpstop Broken
Tire Date Code Front: PDC
Tire Date Code Rear: PDC
Tire % Remaining Front: 0%
Tire % Remaining Rear: 0%
Tire Press. Front: 34 PSI
Tire Press. Rear: 36 PSI
Battery Standing Voltage: N/A
Charging Voltage @ 4k RPM: N/A
Running Condition: Roll Start Only; Runs Well on Bench
Test Ride Completed: None Taken
Test Ride Distance: N/A
Recommendations:
-Front and Rear Tire
-Rear Shock Rebuild
-Swingarm Repair/Replace
Notes:
-Steering damper is leaking
-Drained carburetor
-Dry storage (No Fuel)
-Chain has two master links
-Swingarm is cracked at 2 Pinch Bolts
Inside of the tank:
It is riding on Dunlop slicks that have aged out.
Cosmetic Blemishes: please see the album in the “Photos” tab for all known cosmetic blemishes. Here is a selection:
Currently located in Panorama City, California, (please make an appointment for an inspection) this Ikuzawa is offered on a Bill of Sale only. Have any questions about this listing? Let us know in the “Comments” tab!
