Hit by lightning....

After reading the few stories of being almost ran over by a cars or SUV's I was sitting here thinking that it is not always the stupid drivers of SUV's or car but the bolt of lighting that I encountered on June 14, 1998. While riding back from the 95th anniversary of Harley Davidson, me and two other friends were just 120 from home. (we had traveled from Rock Springs Wyo. to Milwaukee Wisconsin.) We had been riding in rain, starting around the middle of Nebraska. We got into Cheyenne Wyo, and had dinner. Me and Ron had left our helmets on while Dave L. decided to pack his away, (Me and Ron didn't want to have to unpack our T-bag to put the helmets away, Nebraska has the helmet law while Wyo. does not). So off we went, now understand that it had been raining and lightning all day, but I said, Hey I'm on two rubber tires, I'm safe. We had hit Rawlings Wyoming, only a short ride home, Dave L was in front of me while Ron was just behind me. I started to ride under a dark set of clouds when it got very dark, the rain then turned from rain to hail, which in turn covered my front windshield. I had slowed down from 85mph to 45mph because of the low visibility. When I last seen a bright flash. Next thing I know I'm in the hospital in Rawlings. Along story short, I had ruptured my ear drums, had a 3rd degree burns from my forhead (the bolt hit the middle snap on my helmet, and melted the front of the helmet) down to my left arm then it exited the wrist, when the bolt left the wrist it had blew off the watch band and left arc burns out both sides of the band. I totaled my 1993 Fatboy, lost some vision in the right eye, had to have cateract surgery in both eye's, and deal with memory loss, headaches, muscle futigue and take 10 pills a day. The acident put me off work for 8 months. But.......that didn't slow me down I had full covergae on the 1993 Fatboy, which was totaled, so I bought a new 1998 Fatboy rode that till this past February and just bought a new 2004 Road King Classic. The reason I'm writing this is beacuse It may not be the old lady in the car or the d..k head in the SUV talking on the phone, but the laying in wait bolt of lighting. I, to this day do not own a rain suit, I will not ride in the rain. If its raining, I'll ride around the storm or wait it out in a motel. I still deal with the effects of bolt that hit me in 1998 every day......Next time you see the storm ahead and think about putting on the rain suit, remember the story that you have just read, it is true..remember its not worth it. Ride Safe, David.

Whoa..I'd never heard of hit by lightning while riding. Glad you lived to tell about it. The crash alone could've killed you let alone the lightning. I don't mind riding in the rain, but next time I see lightning while riding I'll look to take cover ASAP. I saw a bolt of lightning hit the ground out in the middle of Nevada a couple of years ago while riding US50 on my way to Colorado. Thought it was pretty cool at the time..now it's seems just downright scary.

Can we use that in our fight against helmet laws ...No really I do wonder though if the metal snap on the helmet had much to do with it or if it would have hit you either way. Guess we'll never really know with the unpredictable nature of lightning... and I sure as hell don't foresee anyone volunteering for that study

volunteers for your study

Hey Seahag,

Let me know if you put together a "Lightning Study", I've got a couple people I'd like to volunteer.

I'm figurin' that fatboyvtwin was riding along on the plains of Wyoming and he was just the tallest object around, and thus the bolt "chose" him.

The way I understand it, the rubber tires don't "insulate" or protect cars or anything from the massive voltage of lighting. But rather the fact that in a car, you are surrounded by a metal "cage" and when the cage is struck, it conducts the lighting around you, and into the ground, thus leaving you out of the direct path of the bolt. However, on a bike, you are a rolling lightining rod.

fatboyvtwin,
Glad that you're around to tell the story. It still amazes me that there are people that survive lightining strikes. With that amount of voltage, you'd figure it'd fry anything. You must be a super hero to survive a lightining strike and a bike crash at the same time (on my knees bowing in humility)

SISK

Drive defensively, buy a tank!

Sisk,,,stop....stop....lol....Your right I am a lucky guy, I think I survived the strike to tell all of my brothers who ride the iron, about the dangers of riding in lightning storms. And Sisk, your also right when you mention I was the tallest object for miles. Here in southwestern Wyoming, there's not much but flat ground. Thanks for the support, just be safe...David..

Fatboyvtwin: You are hereby dubbed "The Prophet". Zeus himself hit you with lightning bolt, and let you live to tell us about it. Does this mean tha Zeus does not like a Fat Boy?

Yo, down the road,

Painter

Strange

I just read your posting and I am amazed. Funny thing here is (OK maybe not funny but strange) I just read about a similar incendent here in Germany. A guy on the Interstate 5 not too far from Frankfurt was hit by a bolt of lightning while driving his motorcycle in a rain storm. His wife who was behind him in the car saw the whole thing and was able to call the police and so on. He lost control of his bike (of course) and took out a emergency phone on the side of the road, but he was virtually unharmed. OK a bit shook up, and some cuts and bruises but OK.

Is this a omen telling me to keep my lard butt off the bike and in the car during storms????

fatboyvtwin glad to hear you made it out of that alive and be able to tell about it. I will be more careful in the future BUT the problem of living in Germany is riding and getting caught in a storm is about 50/50 no matter what time of year.

Ride on.

Another strange note. I just read this posting in the preview and had to take another look at my signature. I have been using this saying now for about 5 years in all email communications and so on. I guess I am going Twilight Zone now.

Usahellas, I'm elated to hear that another brother of iron has survived a bolt from above. Two years ago I traveled to Munich Germany, and the one great thing I thought about (as I was doing 110mph down the autobahn) was, Hey, if it starts lightning, the bolts will have a harder time catching me.....Ride Safe, David...

Lmao

Well yes you have a point that you are harder to catch at 110mph.

The German Autobahn Stories are great. About 15 years ago (wow I am getting old) AFNurse and I were both stationed in Aschaffenburg, Germany with the Army. Well he and I took a spin on our Kawasaki Ninja 600s to Frankfurt and it started raining on us. I started to get worried but AFNurse kept hitting the gas. I finally had to speed up next to him and tell him to slow down because his back tire was hydroplaneing.

Of course there was the other time I got an OD of Adrineline as I hit a piece of tire on the Interstate at about 100mph. Front tire lifted up came down back tire lifted up back down. I was high for about an hour.

and the beat goes on.