Canada’s Queen of Speed lines up new record attempt at Bonneville
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FIM Press Release - August 23, 2026
Canada’s first-ever female FIM Land Speed World Record holder, Liane Langlois has her sights set on writing another entry into this unique discipline’s history books at the 2026 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials (BMST) that get under way today (23 August) on the famous Utah salt flats.
At last year’s BMST – part of the FIM Land Speed World Records (LSWR) discipline – the fifty-one-year-old set a new record of 136.331mph (219.403km/h) on her unfaired, three-cylinder 2012 JKR Powersports 2295cc Triumph Rocket 111 Roadster with weighted sidecar and for 2026 she has returned with what is essentially the same machine, but with added bodywork.
Bodywork is one of the key factors determining the record category – along with method of propulsion, capacity, power source and number of cylinders – and the modifications to her machine mean she has a new record to set.
“We’re putting on a fairing and a wheel cover on the sidecar,” she said. “Basically, enough to change it over to Division Bwhich is for a partially streamlined sidecar. It’s not fully enclosed like a streamliner, but enough to hopefully give me a little more speed and solidify another world record for Canada.
“Nobody’s dumb enough to put a sidecar on a motorcycle this big – just us! So, I’ll be setting the standard and I don’t intend to set the standard low.”
Despite setting a record in 2025, Langlois felt the conditions held her back and with the salt surface reportedly much improved this time around she intends to take full advantage of the reduced wind resistance bodywork should give her.
“Last year my record should have been higher, but the salt conditions were not cooperative. The salt looks good at the moment and hopefully the addition of some bodywork combined with a better surface should allow me to push my speed up quite a bit. It really all comes down to me – what courage do I have and what trust do I have in my machine.
"Last year I thought I could push into at least the one-forties, but the salt softened up, we had bad weather conditions and I wasn’t comfortable on my course. I’m hoping that if things are good I definitely want to be well north of one-three-seven with some bodywork.”
With the machine garaged around fourteen-hundred kilometres away from her home in Edmonton, Alberta, at her American team’s North Dakota headquarters, Langlois will not know how effective the modifications are until she gets up to speed on the salt.
“Usually on the Sunday I try to get one run in just to see how it feels and then we go out with the plan to fully attack. I’ve been talking to Jeremy [Ragle], the owner of JKR Powersports, about the effects the changes may have. The fairing on the front will give me more aerodynamics and maybe make me feel safer and, obviously, putting any type of cover over the sidecar wheel will enhance downforce and that might make it pull weird.
“People think the sidecar is there for stability and that it makes it easier, well, I’m here to tell you I have ridden on two-wheels out there as well and the sidecar calls for a whole different dimension of body strength to keep it straight. It’s not easier by any stretch and I’m very interested to see how it handles with the bodywork on it. I guess I’ll let you know when I find out!”
The 2026 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials take place between 23-27 August.
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