The weather's been a little over the top in the region lately. Heavy rain has fallen causing mudslides and some sinkholes have opened up. But one lucky bastard may just have to play the lotto!

A Washington state Honda rider was recently struck by lightning whilst riding his motorbike on the highway. A witness told a local tele station that his helmet had nearly melted. It's suspected his aerial may have taken the hit. Further reports suggest he's been released from hospital and is doing alright. Here's a coupla news stories.

http://tdn.com/news/local/tenino-motorcyclist-survives-lightning-strike-on-i/article_b59db454-1671-11e3-856f-001a4bcf887a.html

With video:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/biker-survives-lightning-strike-washington-motorcyclsit_n_3879919.html

hmm ...
if lightning can come 3 miles out of the sky ...it wont worry about another 4 inches across wet tyres
lucky that some survive these amazing occurances huh ?

A friend of mine was hit by Lightning while riding his FJ1200 yamaha on the Hume coming home from canberra many years back.  He survived though his nerves were a bit jangled for a while afterward(He's fine now).  The bike survived, though some of the electronics started failing in the weeks afterward.

After the hit he pulled up under a bridge to get out of the weather, the woman travelling behind pulled up to see if he was OK.  Her comment "You lit up like a f***ing christmas tree!"

Al

The tyres will not protect a motorcyclist from lightning because as was said the bolt has traveled three miles anf four inches will not stop it, but if you are in a metal car the car functions rather like a Faraday cage and diverts the lightning around the outside of the car protecting the occupants. There have been numerous examples of this and several programs where they have put it to the test without harm. 
Regards,
K-BIKE

Maybe a tinfoil hat is some use after all but it would need an earth strap.

RicK G wrote:Maybe a tinfoil hat is some use after all but it would need an earth strap.

Just somehow with a tin foil hat on, i have a feeling of being the spark plug gap......lol

Or a moth in an insect zapper:D

K-BIKE wrote:The tyres will not protect a motorcyclist from lightning because as was said the bolt has traveled three miles anf four inches will not stop it, but if you are in a metal car the car functions rather like a Faraday cage and diverts the lightning around the outside of the car protecting the occupants. There have been numerous examples of this and several programs where they have put it to the test without harm. 
Regards,
K-BIKE

Indeed, they say it takes 30,000V per inch of arc - so another four inches is only 120kV

Nice pic Charley. I was in a car once that took a hit blew the radio and a few other things - the guy driving was an auto elecrician and just told us not to toutch anything he then drove over to a pedestrian barrier and toutched it with the wing to earth the remaining static and then wee let out our breath and had a laugh!

The guy next door built a new house with a steel frame and while away one weekend it took a hit of lightening.
There was a hole in the roof about a foot in diameter where the hit was and any electrical appliance that was plugged in whether turned on or not was fried, all the wiring was fried and where the verandah posts went into the concrete a huge hole was blown and all the concrete bits went up and through the verandah roof like a shot gun blast. The claim was about $65 000 on a $110 000 house in 1998.
The raw power was just staggering and how a person on a bike can live after being hit is just amazing but it happens quite often.