Originally Posted by
cycle_maven
The bike material makes almost no difference- even if you had a glass bike, there is still a significant dielectric effect that will cause the the flashover to occur along the interface between the air and the bike. You can't predict it. The best place to be is inside a well-grounded Faraday cage. Failing that, inside a building is better than outside. Inside a car is better than outside. Away from trees and power lines is better than near them.
I think many people fail to understand the fundamental fact that lightning is a massive, extremely energetic arc & that arcing of power lines & things man-made is nothing compared to it. We cannot even begin to reproduce that energy save for a few microseconds in 1-2 energy labs on earth. Most lightning protection is about re-directing the current away from less conductive materials that may explode or catch fire.
- Andy