The motorcycle community always appreciates a dynamic force that is steadily breaking barriers and fostering empowerment. Porsche Taylor, the owner of Black Girls Art Magazine and an Indian motorcycle ambassador, embodies this force. Porsche’s journey into the world of two-wheels started with a work bonus that gave her the option to buy a TV or a motorcycle. She chose the bike. The continuation of her two-wheel story moves forward with the birth of Black Girls Ride Magazine which has built an inclusive and supportive community of female motorcyclists. Furthermore, she’s an ambassador for America’s first motorcycle company, Indian Motorcycle. Let’s dive into the life of Porsche Taylor!
P.S., All riders should take Porsche’s advice — remember at least one phone number in case you get into a motorcycle accident and lose your phone. With that advice, you can alert someone of your whereabouts and get the help you need.
Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys: Porsche, please introduce yourself. What do you do? Where are you from, and how did you get into motorcycles?
Porsche Taylor: I’m the owner of Black Girls Art Magazine. It’s become a movement over the years of female motorcyclists all over the country. I’m originally from Hawaii, but raised in Los Angeles, SoCal. I’m an Indian Motorcycle ambassador. I love it. Love Indian motorcycles. They make great products. How did I get into motorcycling? It’s kind of a weird story. So, I was working for a company and I got a bonus one year, and it was either buy a big screen TV or buy a bike. I’ve always loved motorcycles. It always seemed like a small way off idea, like something that would be cool to do. And my cousin invited me to go see a movie called Biker Boys. The unique thing about Biker Boys was in the movie, there were women riding their own bikes, and that was really inspiring and encouraging. So I figured, if they could do it, I could do it. I leaned in and I bought the bike, and I just really haven’t looked back.
Caption: Porsche happily cruising on her Indian Motorcycle (Photo Credit: Porsche Taylor)
Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys: Why and how did Black Girls Ride Magazine start?
Porsche Taylor: Black Girls Ride started on January 1st, 2011. I just had an epiphany. I was kind of at a crossroad in my career trying to figure out what I wanted to do. And I read a book called, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It really talked about chasing your passion and following your passion, instead of just kind of spinning your wheels, doing what you can do instead of doing what you love. I took that day and I just really thought about things that I really loved, and it came out of that idea. The idea originally was to become like a super sport bike meets Essence Magazine. We did the printed book for a while and transitioned over to online. So everything’s online now. The goal was to show black women who were riding, because we knew we were a part of the community.
Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys: Can you share a memorable story or an interaction within the community that has really stuck with you and that you’re really proud of.
Porsche Taylor: Last year we did a breast cancer ride in L.A. I had actually found out that I was sick and I had an ovarian cyst. It turned out to be like a five pound ovarian cyst. I had found out about a couple of weeks before the ride. But we did the ride anyway. There was just so much love and support from all of the riders in the community.
Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys: What’s something motorcycles have really taught you about yourself that you didn’t know until you got involved with this community?
Porsche Taylor: Motorcycling is an empowering activity. You have to overcome lots of different fears to even see yourself in the saddle. You’re kind of open air, you’re very vulnerable on the road. So in order to ride, you find an internal strength. That transcends into other aspects of your life. And sometimes I have to, when I’m having a bad day, I just have to get on a bike and just allow myself to commune and have that meditative spirit of being on the bike and able to kind of block out all the noise. It allows me to have my one-on-one talks with God and really refocus and repurpose who I am.
Caption: Here she is proudly showcasing her printed copy of Black Girls Ride Magazine (Photo Credit: Porsche Taylor)
Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys: Talk to me a little bit about how you became a full-time ambassador for Indian Motorcycles and what is something unique that you bring to this position?
Porsche Taylor: To be an Indian ambassador is really just living the lifestyle. You know, the thing that I love about being an ambassador is they really just want you to showcase who you are in the community, showcase the bike, and how much fun you’re having on it as you’re riding and connecting with your community. And if you have an opportunity to introduce someone new to motorcycling, you introduce the Indian brand, which is a really cool thing. I think what I bring to the Ambassador program is the wealth of experience that I have gained over these last 20 years on the road. Knowing what a woman might look for in a long distance bike and showcasing how Indian has engineered great machines to provide that. Also, just talking about the value that you get from the Indian brand.
Caption: This is Porsche’s and her beloved “Goldie” motorcycle (Photo Credit: Porsche Taylor)
Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys: Tell us a little bit about, um, one of your worst accidents you’ve had and what did you learn from it?
Porsche Taylor: In 2021, I had a terrible accident. I was on a cross country ride coming from Long Beach, California, going to Florida. And in the middle of Texas, a wall of fog came up and I couldn’t see, I just couldn’t see my hand in front of my face and the road took a bend. My bike is about 900 pounds. I’m loaded down with all of my stuff for this coast to coast ride. I ended up on the trucker divots on the side and that caused the bike to go into an uncontrollable wobble. I ended up in a ravine, and it launched me, and I flew. Luckily I landed on the grass and I tumbled.
What I learned was, anything can happen even if you are an experienced rider. There are still things that you don’t know that could happen to you. I learned that all the gear, all the time, is a good thing. Even if you’re going, you know, short distances or even in hot weather. Wearing armor, but especially if you’re on a cross country ride is a good thing. And I learned that you better have somebody’s phone number memorized in this day and age of technology. My phone is still somewhere in the middle of the 10 freeway, in Texas. But luckily, I had a phone number memorized and was able to let my family know
Caption: A happy group of female bikers from the Black Girls Ride community (Photo Credit: Porsche Taylor)
Caption: Here is Porsche sporting her Black Girls Ride threads (Photo Credit: Porsche Taylor)
Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys: From your experience of building an empowered female biker community, what strategies and approaches have been most effective in building and sustaining a supportive and engaged community?
Porsche Taylor: That’s a great question. I think being open for everyone in the community to have a voice. We have a great Facebook group where we welcome everyone to post and share their riding experience — to be mentors to newer riders, to talk about their riding, their long distance rides, their events, share their flyers, and just kind of let it kind of grow.
Are you interested in learning more about Black Girls Ride Magazine? Check out their Instagram and website. Ride safe, and thanks for reading!
