Smite button takes out rider

[Groo]

How fast is your Lawn Tractor, TWN..... Maybe 5 mph?????

I think he has one of these...

 

[twowheelnut]

How fast is your Lawn Tractor, TWN..... Maybe 5 mph?????

Fook, no. Got that ******* turbo'd and use it only in USLMRA races. Tops out a 60!

Besides, child labor ROCKS!

 

[jimbemotumbo]

I was on a bike too. Rain was bad in spots, but the lightening was ALL OVER the place and right on top of us. Came out of nowhere. Well, actually from the sky, but it was a surprise. Always thought I was safe being somewhat low to the ground and with rubber on the pavement. of course, something like that just has to get close to make you FUBAR. Did you see the hole in the highway!

So, lesson learned is the insulating rubber tires won't do **** if the L-bolt runs right up your *** or through your Shoei.

 

[Ari Rankum]

I was on a bike too. Rain was bad in spots, but the lightening was ALL OVER the place and right on top of us. Came out of nowhere. Well, actually from the sky, but it was a surprise. Always thought I was safe being somewhat low to the ground and with rubber on the pavement. of course, something like that just has to get close to make you FUBAR. Did you see the hole in the highway!
So, lesson learned is the insulating rubber tires won't do **** if the L-bolt runs right up your *** or through your Shoei.

Correct. Cars save your ash because of the Farraday cage you sit in. An insulator will limit the current that goes through you, but the difference between 10^5 amps and 10^6 amps is prolly only well-done versus carbon-coated. Just look at a tree (a terrible conductor) that's been hit by lightning some time to get an idea what could happen to a human. The highest thing in the area tends to get hit. Heights being equal, the best path to ground would be preferred. A body is a lower-impedance path than air to ground.

 

[sparky3008]

I was on a bike too. Rain was bad in spots, but the lightening was ALL OVER the place and right on top of us. Came out of nowhere. Well, actually from the sky, but it was a surprise. Always thought I was safe being somewhat low to the ground and with rubber on the pavement. of course, something like that just has to get close to make you FUBAR. Did you see the hole in the highway!
So, lesson learned is the insulating rubber tires won't do **** if the L-bolt runs right up your *** or through your Shoei.

Why a car protects is because of the metal cage directs the energy around the people inside to the ground.

The rubber will be melted off the rims.

I found this interesting.

Does Lightning Travel Up or Down?

his is somewhat of a trick question - technically lightning does both. Let's take a look at the process through which lightning is known to be formed. Lightning occurs because of a difference in charge between a storm cloud and the ground.

First, the base of a cloud sends down a little electric discharge, called a stepped leader. It descends to the ground in steps, each about 50 yards (about 46 meters) in length. This process is extremely fast and impossible to see with the naked eye. Each step is less than a millionth of a second long. The interval between steps works out to about fifty-millionths of a second. This process can only be observed with the assistance of extremely quick-exposure cameras.

The stepped leader generally moves at about 75 miles per second (120 km/s) towards the ground. A typical trip duration is 20 milliseconds. Atoms pass along electrical charge much more quickly than sound vibrations.

The stepped leader carries tons of negative charge. As it nears the ground, it induces enormous quantities of positive charge in the earth, especially at the tips of tall objects. Because opposites attract, the stepped leader and the negative charge at the ground reach towards each other and quickly meet. The path from storm cloud to the surface is complete and "the floodgates are open", so to speak.

Because the cloud is filled with negative charge, it has a lot of current to offer to the newly created discharge path. This charge quickly moves from being distributed throughout the cloud to being concentrated at the point where the stepped leader first dropped from the cloud, into the ground or an elevated object. This discharge is called the return stroke, and is what we think of when we hear the word "lightning".

The return stroke takes around 100 millionths of a second to reach the ground. The immense flash generated is enough to leave an afterimage in our eyes for seconds at a time, giving us the illusion that the lightning flash is longer than it really is. In reality, our eyes cannot resolve any of the steps involved. We only see the final product - a lightning bolt.

So, to answer the original question - put roughly, lightning does move from cloud to ground - if you consider only the return stroke. The whole process begins in the cloud, goes to the ground, then goes back to the cloud, then goes from the entire cloud to the ground. That's how lightning works.

 

[Groo]

.... That's how lightning works.

All this time, I pictured you a bit differently sparky....

...course, with a name like Sparky, I guess you should know alot about lightning...

 

[sparky3008]

.... That's how lightning works.

All this time, I pictured you a bit differently sparky....

...course, with a name like Sparky, I guess you should know alot about lightning...

Actually I got the name as an electrician because many times I thought I had shut off the right breaker and cut the line with my klein's. I still have 2 pair with holes blown in them.

Sometimes it was on purpose because I had spent long enough trying to trace the line and couldn't take it anymore

Use to stick a 12guage wire in outlets in commercial buildings to try and trip the breaker.

The walls would shake, sometime it would work, other times no breaker would trip. Cheap crap!!!

 

[bluejag]

Most excellent post there Sparky All I know is when your standing in your kitchen and it hits the house

You will NEVER, EVER,EVER forget it!!!! :angry2: :angry2: :angry2:

 

[FJR1300]

Anybody notice the name of the cross street...?

Church Ranch Blvd

I wonder what he did to piss off the big guy?

 

[Windjammer]

Not wearing a helmet is not an accident. Stunting is not an accident. It's a conscience decision of a selfish individual, IMO.

Speeding is not an accident. Strafing curvy roads is not an accident. It's a conscience decision of a selfish individual, IMO. Yet many people who are helmet nazi's will go right out and break speed laws with no compunction. Funny how they're obsessed with SOME of the safety rules, but just the ones THEY want to obey.

Note to TWN - NOT implying this is the case with you, just using your text to make my point.

Oh yeah, the lightning thing. When I had my Connie I was riding through a heavy squall and lightning struck nearby. KERACKK!!! Felt like someone hit the top of my helmet with a hammer, made all my hair stand on end and reset the Connie's digital clock to 12:00 - like the battery went dead. This was while the bike was moving down the road. That one was too close.... :scare2:

 

[twowheelnut]

Speeding is not an accident. Strafing curvy roads is not an accident. It's a conscience decision of a selfish individual, IMO. Yet many people who are helmet nazi's will go right out and break speed laws with no compunction. Funny how they're obsessed with SOME of the safety rules, but just the ones THEY want to obey.
Note to TWN - NOT implying this is the case with you, just using your text to make my point.

Speed limits are grossly understated in the US. 'They' estimate that 90% of the population regularly exceed the limits and the majority is usually right. The limits are currently set to encourage revenue enhancement for local and state coffers. You know it and I know it. I always ride and drive within the limits of my equipment, abilities and road conditions. You're still talking apples and oranges. But, your point is taken (however off base it might be ).

And the beat goes on...

 

[Toecutter]

Speed limits are grossly understated in the US. 'They' estimate that 90% of the population regularly exceed the limits and the majority is usually right. The limits are currently set to encourage revenue enhancement for local and state coffers.

In my town, the same speed limits apply that were set back when cars had no seat belts and drum brakes all the way around. Unfortunately, those are pretty good guidelines for the majority of the lemmings that clog the road nowadays.
Those of us who are a notch above, with well maintained, current technology and the skills & knowlege to operate those machines safely AND happen to be focused on the task at hand are also the ones who aren't getting caught speeding, OR causing accidents.

Coincidence? I think not.

 

[Groo]

3 words... Lowest common denominator.

'nuff said.

 

[radman]

Oh, c'mon jestal... I think you're stretching David E's comments a smidge. If you're out there doing your thing in the safest of manners and a lightening bolt decides to make you into a well done biker burger, that's a completely different discussion - helmeted or not. Didn't Lee Trevino get zapped on the golf course? Freak occurrences (yours truly :blink: ) and accidents happen. Not wearing a helmet is not an accident. Stunting is not an accident. It's a conscience decision of a selfish individual, IMO.

This would include your appearance on earth then?

 

[twowheelnut]

Indeed, it would!