It would be difficult to overstate the importance of this. The TTXGP electric motorcycle grand prix has fostered tremendous innovation and shown the technology’s potential. But the series pits electric bikes against electric bikes, making it easy for naysayers to nay say. By racing against seasoned riders on top-tier gasoline motorcycles, Chip Yates has put doubters on notice: E-motos are the real deal.

No, that's not a trunk. It's part of the battery pack.

Yates has been racing motorcycles since 2007 and made the jump to the AMA in 2009. He started pondering alt fuels last year, and he and the crew at Swigz.com Pro Racing USA set to work on an e-moto that can put down as much as 194 horsepower and 295 pound feet of torque. It features a kinetic-energy recovery system. The bike was designed for the TTXGP, but is now ineligible because the TTXGP adopted a 250-kilo weight limit in the new open class.

Yates threw down some impressive laps on the machine last month at Infineon Raceway north of San Francisco, but running around a track on your own is one thing. Competing is quite another. So the Swigz crew headed to the WERA Motorcycle Road Racing Heavyweight Twins races in Fontana, California, to see what the bike can do.

To say it was a success is an understatement. Yates competed on grids of anywhere from 12 to 20 bikes over six-lap courses. He took second in the superstock expert class, then he took third in the superbike expert class against machines like the Ducati 848.

Yates’ bike may not look like much, but it’s fast — he hit 158 mph at one point lapping AutoClub Speedway and posted a fastest lap of 1:39.792.

Check out the wall-to-wall coverage over at Hell for Leather.

Photos: Caliphotography. Video: Chip Yates

Authors: Chuck Squatriglia

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