Solid supported bilayer lipid membranes (S-BLM) that posses some properties similar to those of conventional BLM_s can be self-assembled on a freshly cleaved metal wire by a twostep procedure: 1. The tip of a Teflon-coated platinum wire, while immersed in a lipid solution, is cut off with a scalpel; 2. The new tip of the wire, having become coated with lipid solution, is transferred into 0.1 mol/l KCl. After a few minutes, a stable lipid bilayer forms spontaneously on the tip of wire, as verified by electrical measurements. This paper reports an application of such a supported BLM (S-BLM) in the detection of Pb²⁺ ions. The S-BLM is liquidcrystalline in structure, which makes it amenable to modification for basic studies, as well as for technological applications such as biobensors and molecular electronic devices.