WORLD RECORD BREAKER / LESLIE PORTERFIELD
Speed takes time
Feature
How the world’s fastest female motorcyclist applies patience and adaptability – and came back from an horrific 110mph crash – to achieve success.
Image credit: Scooter Grubb Photography
L eslie Porterfield knows a thing or two about acceleration. She holds four land speed records and in 2008 she entered the Guinness World Records as the fastest woman in the world on a motorcycle. Raised in Dallas, Texas, she has been riding motorcycles since she was 16 years old and has been using challenges to drive her forward from an early age.“The first motorcycle I got was an old one I bought from a neighbour. Most of the bike was in a box. So I rebuilt the carburettors, put it back together and rode it for years – mostly because everyone I knew said I would never be able to ride it.” She went on to earn a degree in accounting and has applied her business acumen, passion for bikes and knowledge of mechanics at various motorcycle shops during her career. She first worked for a Yamaha shop, then
latest trends, technology and products are crucial to success. They provide much needed support to any business.” But despite her obvious attraction to speed, she says not everything can be done in double-quick time. “Success in business and racing requires much patience. It takes mistakes, learning from them, looking at the errors of others in similar situations and trying to learn from their mistakes too. It is always a learning process.” Business needs and demands change, she adds, as do racing conditions and technology – and they need people to be able to flex with them. “It takes patience and a willingness to adapt and learn.”Speed is possible only after applying focus, attention and due diligence, without which it can actually take longer to achieve success. Sometimes it really is a case of ‘less haste, more speed’.
became part owner, before opening a second. Porterfield sold both in 2002 and moved into construction, before returning to the motorcycle business to run the High Five Cycles dealership in Dallas in 2005. Her love of riding endured and she always wanted to set a world record at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. In 2007, she gave it her first shot. She told Guinness World Records: “I bought a used Hayabusa from a customer, made a number of modifications and made my first Land Speed Record runs in August 2007.” But it didn’t go smoothly. “I crashed at about 110mph, was taken to hospital by helicopter with seven broken ribs, a punctured lung and concussion.” She didn’t let that put her off, however. She was determined to return to Bonneville to make history, and a year later she did, setting her first record at 209mph on a naked (unfaired)
motorcycle. “This also earned me the honour of being the first woman in the Bonneville 200mph Club on a conventional motorcycle in its 61-year history,” she says. “I then set the fastest world record of any woman on a motor- cycle at 232mph. And at that same event, I set the 1000cc production class record.” Adamant to push herself yet further, she went back to Bonneville once again in 2009 and seized the ‘Top Speed of the Meet’ award (for a man or woman) with her 240.382mph pass against a record of 227mph. This was the first time in history a woman has taken the title. As both an accomplished businesswoman and racer, Porterfield is used to working closely with third party providers to get the best results. She tells State of Flux: “My relationships with suppliers are vital to business and racing. Their input on the
240 MPH 2009BONNEVILLE ‘TOPSPEED OFTHEMEET’ AWARD 232 MPH 2008 FASTESTWOMANWORLD MOTORCYCLERECORD 209 MPH 2008FIRSTWOMAN IN BONNEVILLE200MPHCLUB
Success in business and racing requires much patience. It takes mistakes, learning from them, looking at the errors of others in similar situations and trying to learn from their mistakes too. It is always a learning process.
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2020 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
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