About

Hey all.. My name is Rod Russell

I’ll try not to bore ya too much, I just want to give you a little info about me.

 I’ve been riding motorcycles for about 26 years now. My dad loved motorcycles and passed his passion on to me. He bought me my first dirtbike, a Honda XL80 when I was 10 years old. I rode the hell out of this bike till I was about 16. Yeah I pretty much out grew it but still felt fortunate to have one with the financial struggles we were going through at the time.

Shortly after that I had a job, built up a little credit, and went down to the dealership to purchase a brand new 89 Yamaha XT 350. I wanted something I could ride on the street as well as off road. This bike was perfect for me at the time. I rode it to work all week then threw it in the truck and went riding on the weekends! I had a few other dirtbikes in that time but still held on to my enduro. My dad put some miles on it as well ;)

I bought my first sportbike when I was 18. It was a 92′ Suzuki Katana 600. My parents were not to thrilled with this decision, but they understood the passion. It wasn’t the best bike for an 18 year old rider who had only ridin a streetbike a few times. I was good on a dirtbike so I thought, hell it can’t be that much different. Wrong!!!

My Katana lasted just over 1 month. I misjudged my speed in a turn and applied too much rear brake,(braking in a turn is a big no no anyway). The bike started to slide then grabbed some traction and threw me off. The bike bounced off a curb and got totaled while I tumbled down a hill. Luckily the bike didn’t go with me. I did have enough sense to wear a helmet, gloves, and a leather jacket. (Thanks Dad!)

I was fortunate to walk away without injury. I learned a valuable lesson that day-. There were a lot of things I didn’t know about riding…

Don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely not trying to discourage anyone at any age from riding sportbikes. For me, no bike compares to the feeling of riding a sportbike.  Just learn the right way. Take a riding course and learn everything you can about the machine your about to ride. Knowledge will help you make the right decisions, and that is what I hope to help provide for you..

　

I created Sportbikebliss.com to share my years of riding experience, as well as my fair share of mistakes. I want to help the beginning to intermediate rider become a safe,confident, skilled, and more aware rider.

Although this site is focused on my passion, sportbikes, a lot of the information can be applied to any streetbike.

Thanks for checking the site!   Hope to chat with ya…

  Rod Russell