Riding Through Storms
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 859
Likes: 0
From: Morton IL
RE: Riding Through Storms
i try to find shelter if its lightening. not on bike but still scary story: couple years ago i was campingat the Brickyard 400 nascar race with some friends. we had a 10'x20' canapy tent with metal poles set up. it was storming pretty bad with wicked lightening around us. one of my buddies- drunk as he!!- stumbled and grabbed a tent pole. at the same time lightening hit, looking like it wasa mile away from us. my budding screamed and was knocked out and fell to the ground....but the weird thing was that his scream stopped half way through it. we tried to wake him up for a minute but couldnt. one of the guys started dialing 911, then all of a suddenBob sat up and finished his scream. he was shaken up pretty good but seemed to be OK. it scared the he!! out of all of us.
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,314
Likes: 5
RE: Riding Through Storms
ORIGINAL: FLHT
That is wild dude. What does it mean when you have hallucinations when the sky's are clear
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ORIGINAL: Dennis Murawski
A couple of years ago, I was at Sturgis and rode out to Devil's Tower. On the return trip, while still in the Wyoming flat lands, I ran into a sever storm. The rain was coming down so hard all I could do was try to see the road ahead. Then out of nowhere, I saw a collage of images from my past in bright colors, with sparkles and flashes and right in the middle of the collage was an image of Woody Woodpecker (no kidding). I'm not sure how long I was watching this image, but it abruptly ended with a sharp pain in my left wrist and lower back. At the exact moment, a huge lightning flash and clap of thunder happened next to me. The bike continued to run and I rode back to Sturgis. I think I pulled into the Broken Spoke and started talking about the hallucination. People looked strangely at me and walked away.
I asked everyone I could think of about what I experienced. After a couple weeks of searching, the editor of well known motorcycle magazine sent an e-mail telling me he also experienced a lightning induced hallucination. He was on a Gold Wing. When his hallucination ended, he was atop his stopped bike. Every light bulb on the bike was blown and the wire harness was welded to the bike.
From what I can gather, before a lightning strike, a huge electrical charge can build up on the rider's highest point (usually his head). The brain's electrical circuits cross fire. I think the pain was an eddy current that pasted through my wrist and back.
Best advise for when you encounter an electrical storm while riding -- stop the bike, get away from the bike and head for the lowest point around (but don't go into a ditch that has water in it because lightning can travel along ditches filled with water). Then if you experience a hallucination, don't tell anyone, 'cause they won't believe you anyway.
A couple of years ago, I was at Sturgis and rode out to Devil's Tower. On the return trip, while still in the Wyoming flat lands, I ran into a sever storm. The rain was coming down so hard all I could do was try to see the road ahead. Then out of nowhere, I saw a collage of images from my past in bright colors, with sparkles and flashes and right in the middle of the collage was an image of Woody Woodpecker (no kidding). I'm not sure how long I was watching this image, but it abruptly ended with a sharp pain in my left wrist and lower back. At the exact moment, a huge lightning flash and clap of thunder happened next to me. The bike continued to run and I rode back to Sturgis. I think I pulled into the Broken Spoke and started talking about the hallucination. People looked strangely at me and walked away.
I asked everyone I could think of about what I experienced. After a couple weeks of searching, the editor of well known motorcycle magazine sent an e-mail telling me he also experienced a lightning induced hallucination. He was on a Gold Wing. When his hallucination ended, he was atop his stopped bike. Every light bulb on the bike was blown and the wire harness was welded to the bike.
From what I can gather, before a lightning strike, a huge electrical charge can build up on the rider's highest point (usually his head). The brain's electrical circuits cross fire. I think the pain was an eddy current that pasted through my wrist and back.
Best advise for when you encounter an electrical storm while riding -- stop the bike, get away from the bike and head for the lowest point around (but don't go into a ditch that has water in it because lightning can travel along ditches filled with water). Then if you experience a hallucination, don't tell anyone, 'cause they won't believe you anyway.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 30,875
Likes: 32,917
From: King George, VA
RE: Riding Through Storms
Geez, now I'm gonna have nightmares while driving through rain storms.
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4,984
Likes: 8
RE: Riding Through Storms
If you stop under an underpass get away from the bike. A lady in Dallas last year was out riding with her daughter and grandson. It started to rain and they stopped. Mom took the son up the side of the underpass grandma was doing something by her bike and Jeep hit and killed her.