Yamaha Uncovers Electric 'YE-01 Racing Concept' Model

9/28/2026 7:33am

Weird little disclaimer they threw on the shroud graphics.

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bosswool2800
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9/28/2026 6:36pm Edited Date/Time 9/28/2026 6:37pm

You don’t have to buy gas, oil, air filter, or switch gears and all that, but… you still have to ride it on a motocross track. And it has no real class that it fits in. And it’s pricey.

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deadlo
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9/28/2026 6:43pm

This is very exciting. I have owned the stark ex for a couple months now and it’s a game changer. 

I’m curious if the Yamaha “clutch” is removable. I still have foot brake on mine, but everybody I talk to with starks went rear handbrake and all say it’s unreal how much better their riding improved. I’m about to swap mine out to try.

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9/28/2026 6:45pm
deadlo wrote:
This is very exciting. I have owned the stark ex for a couple months now and it’s a game changer. I’m curious if the Yamaha “clutch” is...

This is very exciting. I have owned the stark ex for a couple months now and it’s a game changer. 

I’m curious if the Yamaha “clutch” is removable. I still have foot brake on mine, but everybody I talk to with starks went rear handbrake and all say it’s unreal how much better their riding improved. I’m about to swap mine out to try.

I love my Stark. Best bike I ever owned. Don't miss my gassers at all. 

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The Shop

AgileMike
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9/28/2026 7:32pm

I love my Stark and their partnership with EVE batteries makes a 35lb weight reduction possible with a 4kwh battery, perfect for ametuer moto.  It’s already super competitive and will simply blow away the competition when it loses 35 pounds.  Excited for the future of electric.

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9/28/2026 7:36pm
deadlo wrote:
This is very exciting. I have owned the stark ex for a couple months now and it’s a game changer. I’m curious if the Yamaha “clutch” is...

This is very exciting. I have owned the stark ex for a couple months now and it’s a game changer. 

I’m curious if the Yamaha “clutch” is removable. I still have foot brake on mine, but everybody I talk to with starks went rear handbrake and all say it’s unreal how much better their riding improved. I’m about to swap mine out to try.

Get this adapter and you can run a hand and foot brake simultaneously with one calliper.

Racetorx Stark Varg Dual brake kit BREMBO - Racetorx

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9/28/2026 7:49pm

Weird little disclaimer they threw on the shroud graphics.

They don't want people to hate their brand.

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truck
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9/29/2026 7:22am

Stark and most electric bikes have gone away from the model year designation and go with the version, in this case 01, similar to what other tech uses. I've always assumed the model year thing hung on only for the sake of sales, so why wouldn't that apply to electric as well? Don't know what it means, just find it interesting and am curious why the change?

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-MAVERICK-
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9/29/2026 8:26am

Electro Demonstration Laps times (local time):

SATURDAY: Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO and Yamaha YE-01 Racing Concept, 12:45.
 

SUNDAY: Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO and Yamaha YE-01 Racing Concept, 12:45.

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Rad76
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9/29/2026 8:56am Edited Date/Time 9/30/2026 12:49am
-MAVERICK- wrote:
Ben Townley and Milko Potisek will ride the bike. Honda will also be there with their electric CR-E, and it will be ridden by Trey Canard and...

Ben Townley and Milko Potisek will ride the bike. 

Honda will also be there with their electric CR-E, and it will be ridden by Trey Canard and Justin Brayton. 

Cool for the Honda news, but weird they didn't communicate about it. That Yamaha is seriously good. Nico Deparrois (former French MX and enduro rider) has a lot of hours on it as a test rider, and he says the thing is flying. 

Axlnut_KM3
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9/29/2026 9:10am
truck wrote:
Stark and most electric bikes have gone away from the model year designation and go with the version, in this case 01, similar to what other...

Stark and most electric bikes have gone away from the model year designation and go with the version, in this case 01, similar to what other tech uses. I've always assumed the model year thing hung on only for the sake of sales, so why wouldn't that apply to electric as well? Don't know what it means, just find it interesting and am curious why the change?

Tesla attempts to do this, but the car market inertia keeps the model year thing going.

Tractors and equipment do it, and car enthusiasts tend to do it.

The model year thing makes no sense on products that only update in multi year generations, especially if (like Tesla) all models of a generation receive the same OTA updates. 

I don't care what year a Kubota BX 80 series was made, I just care that it's an 80 and hours/condition. Same with a Juniper Model Y, a 24-27 KX450, etc. 

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KurtJ99
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9/29/2026 9:54am
-MAVERICK- wrote:

Electro Demonstration Laps times (local time):

SATURDAY: Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO and Yamaha YE-01 Racing Concept, 12:45.
 

SUNDAY: Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO and Yamaha YE-01 Racing Concept, 12:45.

Thanks Mav. 

Doesn't seem to be in between the live coverage of events on MXGP. Was hoping to catch a reply when I woke up since at 3:45a PST. 

early
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9/29/2026 11:01am
-MAVERICK- wrote:

Electro Demonstration Laps times (local time):

SATURDAY: Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO and Yamaha YE-01 Racing Concept, 12:45.
 

SUNDAY: Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO and Yamaha YE-01 Racing Concept, 12:45.

Lame to do that and not have Stark participating

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Toste
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9/29/2026 11:37am Edited Date/Time 9/29/2026 11:38am

The Yamaha looks great and I would have no concerns about quality and customer service, but I have doubts about performance/range on a bike with a gas based chassis (mainly due to limited battery capacity). The bike looks like it would be very heavy too. For motocross/GP type of riding, I would prefer not to have a clutch on an Emoto, so that's also a negative to me.

On the versioning in electric bikes, has anyone heard if Stark intends for newer battery/controller tech to have backwards compatibility with the original Varg when it becomes available? The motor and chassis on the v1 Varg seem like they will be more than good enough for most riders for many years to come.

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9/29/2026 11:42am
deadlo wrote:
This is very exciting. I have owned the stark ex for a couple months now and it’s a game changer. I’m curious if the Yamaha “clutch” is...

This is very exciting. I have owned the stark ex for a couple months now and it’s a game changer. 

I’m curious if the Yamaha “clutch” is removable. I still have foot brake on mine, but everybody I talk to with starks went rear handbrake and all say it’s unreal how much better their riding improved. I’m about to swap mine out to try.

I only have a little bit of ride time on a Varg. But I loved how I was able to put my feet where they should be for whatever I was doing instead of a compromised position that would allow me to still shift or hit the brakes.  I found myself immediately more comfortable  cornering .  I have not been riding regularly because I've had to help my mother. But things have changed and I want to get a varg or electric swap my RMZ. And I'll run a rear hand brake if that's the route I go. I think it would be fun to make an RMZ into an electric and take the last 450 without electric start and make it electric .

 

 For me, I'm big 6'9" with size 16 boots so its always been hard to  get my brake pedal and shifter set right. Its always been a compromise  and never was able to get it in a spot that I was comfortable sitting and standing. So for me the Hand brakes and no shifter are really amazing. It allowed me to be more comfortable than I ever have been on my own bike, on a customers Varg that was setup for somebody more than a foot shorter.  

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Beagle
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9/29/2026 12:17pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:

Electro Demonstration Laps times (local time):

SATURDAY: Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO and Yamaha YE-01 Racing Concept, 12:45.
 

SUNDAY: Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO and Yamaha YE-01 Racing Concept, 12:45.

early wrote:

Lame to do that and not have Stark participating

Well, the thing is that there is no point in demonstration laps of a Varg since it's a production bike available since 2023 (unlike Honda prototype presented in 2017 with no release date in sight).

Now I'm not saying that if Michael Hicks would happen to be near Ernée on his Varg, that would not spice things up! Hopefully production versions are around the corner (Yamaha likely is, Honda... who knows) and we'll find out soon enough what they're worth against the Varg. With Honda and Yamaha onboard I'm sure the AMA will suddenly figure out how to allow electric racing. I'm just worried that seemingly small batteries from Honda and Yamaha would make for really short races.

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9/29/2026 12:35pm

Pretty excited to see at least one manufacturer putting a proper clutch in, especially since it's in partnership with EM. From what I've heard their newest trials bike is awesome. I spend the majority of my ride time in hard enduro and I simply will not have a bike without a clutch. Im still refusing to ride anything but carbed two strokes but I'm interested in the electric development

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deadlo
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9/29/2026 1:06pm
Pretty excited to see at least one manufacturer putting a proper clutch in, especially since it's in partnership with EM. From what I've heard their newest...

Pretty excited to see at least one manufacturer putting a proper clutch in, especially since it's in partnership with EM. From what I've heard their newest trials bike is awesome. I spend the majority of my ride time in hard enduro and I simply will not have a bike without a clutch. Im still refusing to ride anything but carbed two strokes but I'm interested in the electric development

For hard enduro do you think an electric clutch is more important than a rear hand brake? I’d think the latter would be more beneficial. 

3strokemx
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9/29/2026 1:15pm
Pretty excited to see at least one manufacturer putting a proper clutch in, especially since it's in partnership with EM. From what I've heard their newest...

Pretty excited to see at least one manufacturer putting a proper clutch in, especially since it's in partnership with EM. From what I've heard their newest trials bike is awesome. I spend the majority of my ride time in hard enduro and I simply will not have a bike without a clutch. Im still refusing to ride anything but carbed two strokes but I'm interested in the electric development

deadlo wrote:

For hard enduro do you think an electric clutch is more important than a rear hand brake? I’d think the latter would be more beneficial. 

Depends on power delivery, the stark has a throttle that twists all the way to next week.   Otherwise it would be beneficial to slip the clutch when finding traction.

I suspect people ride the hand brake as a psuedo clutch.

deadlo
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9/29/2026 1:31pm
3strokemx wrote:
Depends on power delivery, the stark has a throttle that twists all the way to next week.   Otherwise it would be beneficial to slip the...

Depends on power delivery, the stark has a throttle that twists all the way to next week.   Otherwise it would be beneficial to slip the clutch when finding traction.

I suspect people ride the hand brake as a psuedo clutch.

I will say, the traction control settings are UNREAL good. The trails where I am get super slick wet clay/mud/rocks/roots. I’m consistently much more controlled/in traction than the gas bikes I ride with. I like track more but been riding enduro stuff lately and it’s impressive. 

They just all rave about handbrake rear especially for enduro. I’ll be trying it soon

early
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9/29/2026 1:40pm
Beagle wrote:
Well, the thing is that there is no point in demonstration laps of a Varg since it's a production bike available since 2023 (unlike Honda prototype...

Well, the thing is that there is no point in demonstration laps of a Varg since it's a production bike available since 2023 (unlike Honda prototype presented in 2017 with no release date in sight).

Now I'm not saying that if Michael Hicks would happen to be near Ernée on his Varg, that would not spice things up! Hopefully production versions are around the corner (Yamaha likely is, Honda... who knows) and we'll find out soon enough what they're worth against the Varg. With Honda and Yamaha onboard I'm sure the AMA will suddenly figure out how to allow electric racing. I'm just worried that seemingly small batteries from Honda and Yamaha would make for really short races.

This demo is ostensibly meant to promote the MXEP series that was supposed to start this year but didn't. Of course we already know Stark is the electric benchmark, give the Honda and Yamaha a rabbit to chase in front of the crowd!

1000054075
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Beagle
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9/29/2026 3:28pm

Yeah, MXEP "indefinitely postponed" has always been Luongo and FIM waiting for Yamaha and Honda to come up with anything competitive with the Varg. I think Yamaha will be there first.

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3strokemx
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9/29/2026 4:11pm
3strokemx wrote:
Depends on power delivery, the stark has a throttle that twists all the way to next week.   Otherwise it would be beneficial to slip the...

Depends on power delivery, the stark has a throttle that twists all the way to next week.   Otherwise it would be beneficial to slip the clutch when finding traction.

I suspect people ride the hand brake as a psuedo clutch.

deadlo wrote:
I will say, the traction control settings are UNREAL good. The trails where I am get super slick wet clay/mud/rocks/roots. I’m consistently much more controlled/in traction...

I will say, the traction control settings are UNREAL good. The trails where I am get super slick wet clay/mud/rocks/roots. I’m consistently much more controlled/in traction than the gas bikes I ride with. I like track more but been riding enduro stuff lately and it’s impressive. 

They just all rave about handbrake rear especially for enduro. I’ll be trying it soon

yeah but you might not want it the same delivery all the time, would be more versatile to use a clutch to apply the right amount of power for the situation.

otrdave
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9/29/2026 5:29pm
AgileMike wrote:
I love my Stark and their partnership with EVE batteries makes a 35lb weight reduction possible with a 4kwh battery, perfect for ametuer moto.  It’s already...

I love my Stark and their partnership with EVE batteries makes a 35lb weight reduction possible with a 4kwh battery, perfect for ametuer moto.  It’s already super competitive and will simply blow away the competition when it loses 35 pounds.  Excited for the future of electric.

Explain "perfect for amateur Moto"?  How long does the battery last in minutes, how do you charge it at the track, and how's the suspension?

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9/29/2026 11:34pm
3strokemx wrote:
yeah but you might not want it the same delivery all the time, would be more versatile to use a clutch to apply the right amount...

yeah but you might not want it the same delivery all the time, would be more versatile to use a clutch to apply the right amount of power for the situation.

Stark has solved this nicely with the traction control..  its kinda insane how that bike climbs without loosing traction. 
 

9/30/2026 12:41am
truck wrote:
Stark and most electric bikes have gone away from the model year designation and go with the version, in this case 01, similar to what other...

Stark and most electric bikes have gone away from the model year designation and go with the version, in this case 01, similar to what other tech uses. I've always assumed the model year thing hung on only for the sake of sales, so why wouldn't that apply to electric as well? Don't know what it means, just find it interesting and am curious why the change?

It doesn’t take a lot of working out.

They could release multiple new versions a year if they needed to. 

Likewise, it could work the other way and if they don’t have new tech ready for release, they’ve no need to release a ‘BNG’ bike, which also frustrates some buyers. 

3strokemx
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9/30/2026 5:20am
3strokemx wrote:
yeah but you might not want it the same delivery all the time, would be more versatile to use a clutch to apply the right amount...

yeah but you might not want it the same delivery all the time, would be more versatile to use a clutch to apply the right amount of power for the situation.

Ridelow wrote:

Stark has solved this nicely with the traction control..  its kinda insane how that bike climbs without loosing traction. 
 

Yes traction control to prevent wheel spin is 1 area.

Wouldn't you also have situations whe you want to be able to spin the wheel or accelerate quckly?  The clutch lever does all 3.

-MAVERICK-
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1 day ago
-MAVERICK- wrote:
Ben Townley and Milko Potisek will ride the bike. Honda will also be there with their electric CR-E, and it will be ridden by Trey Canard and...

Ben Townley and Milko Potisek will ride the bike. 

Honda will also be there with their electric CR-E, and it will be ridden by Trey Canard and Justin Brayton. 

100001258310000125821000012584
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22 hours ago
-MAVERICK- wrote:
Ben Townley and Milko Potisek will ride the bike. Honda will also be there with their electric CR-E, and it will be ridden by Trey Canard and...

Ben Townley and Milko Potisek will ride the bike. 

Honda will also be there with their electric CR-E, and it will be ridden by Trey Canard and Justin Brayton. 

-MAVERICK- wrote:
100001258310000125821000012584

Has anything changed on it since the last race/demo? Why are they holding off production?

-MAVERICK-
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Ontario, CA
22 hours ago

Has anything changed on it since the last race/demo? Why are they holding off production?

I have no idea if anything has changed since the last time they rode it in public. I know Trey Canard mentioned they still had a lot of work to do. 

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