Take A Look At This Incredibly Rare Japanese Single-Cylinder Race Motorcycle And Tell Me You Don't Want One

One of the things I've long admired about motorcycle and motorsport history is that, no matter how much you learn or what weird little rabbit holes you find yourself diving into at 2 am, you will never know it all.

Seriously, there's just too much. So many cool stories, weird stories, unfortunate stories; you will never, ever know it all. To me, that's both reassuring and a constant source of delight, because it means there's always more to pique my interest. Like this absolutely delightful video from Iconic Motorbike Auctions, the purveyors of some of the finest and most droolworthy JDM motorcycles that the likes of myself (and several others) only ever fervently wished had come to these shores.

This isn't one of those, though; it's something even more special and rare. This is an Ikuzawa TH1R, and it's a single-cylinder race bike built in 1988. The frame was made by Harris, and the engine is a Honda RS600D flat-track racing mill that makes a claimed 61 horsepower at 7,000 rpm.

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Tetsu Ikuzawa is a living motorsports legend (83 years old at the time of writing, in fact), and gained international acclaim in racing throughout the 1960s through the 1980s. He raced in Formula 3 and Formula 2 with Frank Williams, became the first-ever Japanese driver to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, won in his class at the Nurburgring, and even went on to test for Colin Chapman's Lotus F1 team over the course of his racing career. Like many racers, he also went on to lead his own teams, including a Team Ikuzawa win on two wheels at the Suzuka 8 Hours in 1989. 

And now, it's your chance to bid on what is certainly one of the only, if not THE very only Ikuzawa TH1R race bikes in the United States. It's currently open for bidding at Iconic Motorbike Auctions, with just over 4 days left on the clock (and reserve not met) at the time of writing. 

But even if this isn't the bike for you, if you're a motorcycle and/or motorsport history nerd, you'll want to both watch Abhi's video above and take a good, long look at this auction listing. The bike comes with a bunch of cool documentation (if your olfactory sense-memory is already kicking into high gear at thinking about that unique Japanese paper smell, you're not alone), and I think it's pretty safe to say that if you're into vintage racing, you will PROBABLY be the only one to show up on this bike at your next event. I could be wrong in this assumption, but somehow I don't think I am.

Go experience some obscure moto joy today! You deserve it.

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