Most customs are controlled by aesthetics. A few are defined by engineering, and this very strange Ducati from St.Petersburg is one of them.
It comes from Vitaliy Selyukov of Balamutti’s workshop, and he’s a very good guy at pushing the technical envelope. He’s the one who built a tricycle Ice Racer Hypermotardand he’s kept his cool with his latest work.
Balamutti is essentially a family run, as Vitaliy works with his wife Sanita and daughter Angelina. But there’s nothing simple about this 900SS-strong construction, which he calls ‘Chimera.’
It took the team almost four years to complete the project, with most of that time spent on the front end of the car, which uses a swingarm with central steering.
The obvious parallel is the Bimota Tesi, which has a similar front end. But this one is a bit different.
“I was able to bypass Bimota’s patent,” Vitaliy said mischievously. “The designer of this suspension is the inventor Count Shilovsky.” (Historians may know Shilovsky as the man who revealed the ‘Gyro’ in 1914 – a strange two-wheeled object stabilized by a gyroscope.)
“Of course, Bimota Tesi to be an inspiration,” admits Vitaliy. “But I reduced the ball joints and levers in the handlebars. As a result, I have less leverage and two fewer loops”.
To reduce the drag-free weight without compromising strength, Vitaliy used high-quality structural alloy steel wherever possible — not easily found in billet form.
The rest of the bike is also heavily modified, though more commonly, using a host of parts from a number of other Ducatis – including the Hypermotard, Monster S2R, 916 and 1098.
The engine was a Desmo L-twin 900SS, reworked and repainted, and fitted with a sliding clutch.
The gas escapes through a custom stainless steel exhaust system, welded by Sanita and finished with a colorful titanium nitride coating – an extremely hard ceramic material.
The custom rear swing arm wraps around the 7.5-inch-wide rear wheel, made by Vitaliy, with 48 spokes. Set aside are the unusual LED brake lights, with pieces of plastic set into one around the metal.
The revised suspension and linkage are from Hypermotard, but the floating brake rotor is an aftermarket accessory from Arashi, with twin Brembo brake calipers for maximum stopping power. It’s a virtual mirror image of the system used on the front wheels.
The storage tank is one of the few elements that are relatively common on this machine. Vitaliy said: “I really like the original SS900 tank. “So we decided to keep the shape, but make it smaller.”
Leonid from local fabrication specialist Driveinworkshop helped with this, aluminum welding. At the same time, Vitaliy also stripped off Ducati’s original dashboard and converted it into a small Koso clock attached to the bottle.
“It didn’t have an oil pressure light, so I 3D printed one where the start button was.” He also produced a mirror, with polished stainless steel as the reflective component, not glass.
Vibrant paint colors were handled by Anton at Octopus Art Aerografia. Obviously the hardest part is not the multitude of minor components and colors, but the aluminum finish on the front swingarm.
Vitaliy admits he’s a bit like a ‘mad scientist’, but that’s fine with us. Extreme bikes like these may not be for everyone, but they add a lot of color to the world of customization — and prove that engineering can be fun, too.
Balamutti | Instagram | The picture of Alexey Satirskiy
