Chip Yates Articles
News
Chip Yates plans speed record for final electric motorcycle act
As the final act in what’s sure to go down in history as one of the most significant careers in electric motorcycling, Chip Yates plans to set a new land speed record. So far this year, the defense contractor emerged from motorcycling obscurity to achieve performance parity with ICE in WERA racing, outpace liter bikes at the Mojave Mile and successfully race up Pikes Peak. An attempt at the offi...
12 August 2011
Video: Chip Yates tackles Pikes Peak
Practicing for the race on June 26, Chip Yates put in his first runs up Pikes Peak this weekend. “I was leaned over dragging my knee at more than 100mph at Bottomless Pit corner, with a 3,000 foot dropoff on my left and a giant snowbank on my right,” says Chip. “This has to be the most extreme racing spectacle in the United States.” This is his first visit to the mountain, but riding his 2...
09 June 2011
Putting Chip Yates’ 190mph electric land speed record in perspective
The impressive thing about the unofficial 190.6mph land speed record that Chip Yates set at the Mojave Mile two weeks ago wasn’t necessarily that outright speed — he was aiming for 200+, but faced charging and crosswind problems — but rather that he reached it in a one-mile drag race, not on the open expanse of a dry lake bed where courses can reach 10 miles in length. To put that speed in p...
25 April 2011
The fastest electric motorcycle in the world
For the second time this year, Chip Yates has made history. In January, he placed second in a race against ICE superbikes using his homemade electric superbike and yesterday he unofficially set a new land speed record by a comfortable margin. Racing at the Mojave Mile, the garage inventor reached a top speed of 190.6mph. This is made extra impressive not only because he exceed the official electri...
11 April 2011
News
Chip Yates enters Pikes Peak Hill Climb
Becoming the most powerful motorcycle of any kind ever to enter the race, we’re exclusively revealing that Chip Yates will be racing his 240bhp, 365lb/ft electric superbike at Pikes Peak on June 26. Chip’s bike is currently set up for paved tracks, where he made history by placing second in a race against gasoline superbikes back in January. With the help of a friend, we uncovered this news ye...
24 March 2011
Meeting Chip Yates
Last Saturday we dropped by Fontucky’s Auto Club Speedway to watch Chip Yates' first test with his new 240bhp/365lb-ft electric motor and his new wheelie control software. Impressive is an understatement. Beating his previous best lap time of 1:39 by two seconds, Chip wasn’t even using full throttle and was flying past literally every other bike on the track. After placing second in his first ...
21 February 2011
News
A video timeline of the Chip Yates electric superbike
Chip Yates set out to build his electric superbike when he was laid up with a broken pelvis he suffered while racing gas bikes. He didn’t do it to save polar bears or pick up hippie chicks. Chip set out to build an electric race bike because he saw it as the only venue in which he could combine his engineering and riding skills, then actually win races. A little over a year later, he beat bikes ...
07 February 2011
Photos: Chip Yates puts gas bikes on notice
Here’s high-res action photos from yesterday’s WERA racing at Auto Club Speedway, where Chip Yates placed 2nd and 3rd in races against KTM RC8s, Ducati 848s and Suzuki SV650s. Photos: Caliphotography/Julie Yates Update: We've added a video interview created for us by Chris Sanchez of RT Moto. Update 2: Quotes from Chip below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo28DeRVB1U&feature=youtube_g...
10 January 2011
News
Video: onboard as Chip Yates makes electric history
Yesterday, Chip Yates placed 2nd and 3rd in WERA Heavyweight Twins races against KTM RC8s, Ducati 848s, 1,000cc Hondas and Suzuki SV650s. The thing is, Chip wasn’t riding another ICE machine, he was riding an electric superbike of his own design. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIMQ0c7JKIU&feature=share The onboard video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YMjnFF1New&feature=player_embedded An ...
10 January 2011
News
Electric v Gas: electric comes second
Riding his 194bhp electric superbike, Chip Yates has placed second in the superstock class in a race against WERA Heavyweight Twins. That class includes bikes like the Ducati 1198 and KTM RC8. Until today, Chip had only completed a handful of laps on his experimental motorcycle on two outings. When we spoke to Chip last month, he was cautiously optimistic about reaching mid-pack in this class, som...
09 January 2011
Electric v Gas: the first practice
Pictured is Chip Yates, traveling at 154mph. Tomorrow, Chip will enter his 295lb/ft, 194bhp electric superbike in a race for gas-powered motorcycles. Entering the WERA Heavywight Twins Class, he’ll be the first person to pit a modern electric motorcycle against ICE (Ducati 1198, KTM RC8 etc) on the same track at the same time. Today’s practice session was only the second time he’s ridden the...
08 January 2011
Video: on-board Chip Yates’ electric superbike
Yesterday, Chip Yates successfully completed his first ever test aboard his 295lb/ft, 194bhp electric superbike, the same one he plans to campaign against gasoline-powered superbikes in WERA Heavyweight Twins beginning January 9. Chip describes the experience as mind-boggling. Here’s video from on-board what could be the fastest electric motorcycle ever made. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMz...
16 December 2010
232 HP electric superbike to race gasoline motorcycles
On January 9, 2011, history will be made as an electric superbike races directly against gasoline-powered motorcycles for the first time in modern road racing. Chip Yates will be campaigning his 232bhp SWIGZ.com Pro Racing superbike in the WERA Heavyweight Twins class at California’s Auto Club speedway, competing head-to-head with with bikes like the Ducati 1198 and KTM RC8. Chip is making thi...
09 December 2010
News
That's a lot of batteries
But they only add up to 11.5kWh of capacity, meaning the LiFePO4 Lithium-Ion batteries aren't achieving great power density. The Swigz Pro Racing Electric Superbike is going to need that capacity too if it's going to use all its 194bhp and 295lb/ft (peak) during the 25-ish miles of lapping Infineon next weekend; a Kinetic Energy Recovery System will help. >Based on a GSX-R750, Chip Yates' bike...
07 May 2010