Most customs are driven by aesthetics. A handful are defined by engineering, and this very strange Ducati from St. Petersburg is one of them.
It comes from Vitaliy Selyukov of the Balamutti workshop, and he’s a dab hand at pushing the engineering envelope. He’s the man who built a three-wheeled Hypermotard ice racer, and he’s stayed true to form with his latest creation.
Balamutti is actually a family operation, because Vitaliy works with his wife Sanita and daughter Angelina. But there’s nothing homely about this 900SS-powered build, which he’s called ‘Chimera.’
The project took the team almost four years to complete, with a lot of that time occupied by the front end—which uses a swingarm with hub-center steering.
The obvious parallel is the Bimota Tesi, which has a similar front end.…