Not a day without drive

Motorcyclist twins Zhivutskys from Orsha and their twin wives travel around Belarus on personally created trikes

What biker doesn’t like to ride fast? Andrei and Valery Zhivutsky are no exception. The brothers are multiple champions of Belarus in sidecar motocross. Moreover, they participated in the World Cup. They have been going, or rather riding, to the cherished goal for more than a dozen years in order to perform well at international competitions in their 50s!

Sensation on the way

The Zhivutskys, the natives of Orsha, gained popularity in 2020 after their ‘mystical wolf’ was first spotted on the roads in February. So the brothers themselves call the exclusive personally created trike. In Belarus, there are no analogues to their burgundy masterpiece. According to the documents, this is a tricycle, notes Valery, “That is a vehicle on three wheels. In this case, the two rear ones are from Mercedes-Benz, and the front one, like the brakes, is from a Japanese motorcycle. Under the hood is a six-cylinder V-engine from a German SUV, which produces 320 horsepower capacity.” 
When one looks at a tricycle, one will never say that it was created in a garage, but not at a factory. Elegant classics, power and strength — a combination of convertible and motorcycle in one body is impressive. Andrei picks up the conversation, 

“How do people react? Very positive! They smile, take pictures, shake hands. At home, everyone is probably already used to us. But our device makes a sensation at motorcycle rallies in other cities, including Russian ones. It is immediately clear where we are from: the flag of Orsha flutters next to the state flag of Belarus.”

Any routes are available to the Zhivutskys tricycle completely legally: it was allowed to drive on the roads after inspections by the Joint Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. By the way, the acoustic system is a special pride of our heroes. The sound is such that the trike attracts attention from afar.
Interesting fact: the Zhivutskys only graduated from the Radio Engineering School. The rest is years of practice.
“We have our own motorcycle shop. It seems that we can ‘bring to life’ any transport. But seriously, dreams come true — we dreamed of our own trike from our youth. At the age of 14, my brother and I began to engage in motorsports. And the design debut happened even earlier, in the third grade. We assembled the first, wooden, trike, ‘reviving’ it with a moped engine,” Andrei explains. 
Our heroes have the passion for technology for a reason. Their father — Mikhail, a cool specialist, a sixth-category toolmaker has always been and remains an example for them. The brothers also warmly recall their first motorsport coach, Sergei Ratkevich.

Creativity of two generations

Zhivutskys do not stop their garage experiments. Now they are on fire with another project. If the previous brainchild took almost a year and a half, then the new trike is expected to be brought to people in the spring.

Andrei opens the jacket with another three-wheeled masterpiece, “We’d like you to meet our new project! We plan to make it more powerful than the 2020 trike, with an eight-cylinder engine. Of the features, there are a pneumatic duct, an unusual shape, the most open frame and large wheels... For now, we are drawing an image in our head in the spirit of the Mad Max movie. We hope to surprise everyone again.”
The sons of Zhivutskys also willingly joined the technical creativity, well, there is no other way to call this process. The elders Slava and Alexander are engineers by profession, their professional knowledge is very useful. The younger Vlad and Seva are also keen on engineering. For sure, no one is forced into the garage in our family, says Valery, “We are sure that we can inspire someone only by our own example. And so it happened: our guys were imbued with motor vehicles and everything related to it from childhood.”
Zhivutskys has not only original trikes in their collection. Their unusual bright yellow Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which the residents of Orsha have adapted for themselves, has recently raced across the roads in Moscow. Rear wheel, to be specified, is 30 centimetres wide and reshaped, “Russian friends called us, they said that our bike with the author’s upgrade could not be confused with anything else. 

To be honest, the more we look at a variety of motor vehicles, the more acute the desire to create something of our own, Belarusian, appears. Completely domestic — from the frame and engine to the wheels — a motorcycle.”

Can Zhivutskys actually do it? They will not be able to do it alone, but if nugget designers are noticed and taken under the wing by manufacturers, then it will be possible. Brothers think, “We could design and bring such a technique to mind. We have enough enthusiasm, experience, and zeal, but machines and specific equipment are needed. So this would be — and our domestic bike will one day be on a par with real motorcycle legends. Is it possible to get on stream? Why not! The name is ready: ‘Belarus’ — with love for the Motherland.”

Feeling the wind at one’s back

The crew of Zhivutskys is always in the spotlight on the road, not only thanks to Andrei and Valery, who are like two drops of water, but also to beautiful wives who share their motor passion. Tatyana and Oksana are also twins — what a coincidence!

The brothers found their soulmates when they were still first-graders. And they decided to get acquainted a year before the army, Valery laughs, 

“Next year we will celebrate a pearl wedding, 30 years together. Wives are our reliable rear, the best support, our backbone. Even our first trike would hardly have taken place without them. When everyone around dissuaded, they say, the idea is empty and complicated, Tanya and Oksana motivated us: ‘Everything will definitely work out, we believe in you!’”

It cannot be otherwise, Oksana says with a smile, “We are proud of our husbands, their talent, incredible capacity for work, if you like, courage. Perhaps, their stroller was the only hundred percent at the World Championships. This applies not only to the ride itself, but also about the total age of the crew members.”
Tatyana, like her sister, is not only a car, but also a motorcycle lady. She says they’ve both had motorcycle licenses for five years, “In fact, we began to enjoy the feeling of the wind behind us a couple of years ago, when we started riding a trike together with our husbands. And not so long ago they presented us with a gift that could only be dreamed of — a snow-white tricycle.”

By Anna Naumova
Photos by Anton Stepanischev