If you haven’t heard of Gustavo Penna or Apogee Motorworks, then this custom Ducati 749 ought to help imprint the names on you memory forever. The stock 749 started life as a canyon carver and weekend track bike for a couple of years before Gustavo decided to check out its innards. The Pierre Terblanche-designed fairings were stripped away for an apocalyptic look, and in went a more powerful 749R engine, complete with its racing cams, titanium valves, valve guides, connecting rods, magnesium head covers, a slipper clutch and carbon-fibre belt covers.

While the original sketch featured a fuel tank and seat that could be slid forwards or backwards to suit the rider, thus allowing for a perfect posture, it never did make it into production, which is why Gustavo re-engineered the rear sub-frame and fuel tank to enable full adjustability. The stunning exhaust was designed with the help of a friend who works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with the duo employing computational fluid dynamics to perfect the design and then handcrafting it from titanium.

Apparently, three bikes have been built, and sold to – get this – a Russian millionaire, the CEO of Audi North America and the President of Azerbaijan. Gustavo is taking orders for more units, with each one scheduled to take a minimum of 90 days to build depending on the donor motorcycle. and he’ll only work with Trellis-framed Ducatis. Get in touch with Gustavo here.