3/2/26 Vale Michael (Mick) Sandley Member #4318.
I first met Mick in 1986 at a crisis meeting of motorcycle stake holders at the Oaklands Park Road Safety Centre to address the horrible motorcycle road toll of 45 deaths recorded the previous year. Urgent action was needed to address this carnage and various solutions were discussed.
There were no official Rider Training Courses at that time and the Government and assembled riders seized on this as the way forward. At that time, new riders were left to their own devices and when they thought they were ready, attended the local Police Station and given a short practical test by riding around the block and if they survived, they were given a full motorcycle licence to ride a bike of any capacity. Those in attendance at the Oaklands Park meeting added their names to a list to be possible Rider Trainers in the foreseeable future. A delegation of Government safety experts were dispatched to California to observe how they did their rider training. Mick firmly believed that this was the way to lower the motorcycle road toll and he went on to be a long serving Senior Ridersafe Instructor. The motorcycle toll quickly fell back by 70% to more acceptable levels within a very short time. Mick was highly respected by both Students and Staff for many years and he resigned well into his seventies. His number of years of faithful service to Ridersafe will probably never be bettered.
In April 1992 Mick joined the Ulysses Club and attended the Adelaide Branch and spent most Sunday’s riding with their well-organized rides. In 1994, Mick and a few of the older retired members, thought that a regular ride on Wednesdays would be the way to go and on 9th October of that year a small group left the car park of the Feathers Hotel at 1030 am for the final destination of Stathalbyn. The group consisted of Ross Murray, Lyell Zilm, Charlie Hughs, Mick Sandley and Neville Gray. (Sadly, I am the last remaining member of that group with the others having long since ‘Ridden On’.) The ride was deemed a big success and the word quickly spread – the rest is history. Now on any Wednesday, the Adelaide Hills are alive with motorcycles zooming around the almost vacant roads. Most of the other metropolitan based Clubs now have their own Wednesday Rides. The Adelaide Branch still uses the Feathers Hotel car park as one of their departure points as it is a conduit to the Adelaide Hills action via Greenhill Road. Thank you Mick for your vision and foresight.
Mick had many other talents, the most impressive was his impeccable riding style. I and others, used to sneak up behind him when he was Ride Leader and watch and admire his lines through corners and his general roadcraft. The brake lights seldom came on and slowing for corners was not on his riding agenda. He never sped and didn’t need to. He formally took over the Adelaide Branch Wednesday Rides as Leader and we used to do quite long rides with Burra, Ardrossan and Clare frequently visited. I guess that we were younger in those days. Mick was not a fan of formal meetings, so we rarely saw him at Ulysses events and meetings except for formal rides.
Mick was a warrior on the racetrack, especially at Mallala and Mount Gambier Raceways where he regularly competed in class events against riders many years younger than he was. In fact, he won his class when he was well into his seventies. As he aged, he went to riding smaller road going motorcycles and I am now the proud owner of his last bike, a 2009 Yamaha XT250 which I keep in super shiny condition just as Mick did.
When Mick was diagnosed with an incurable condition in his mid-eighties, he made it his business to phone around to all his Ulyssian mates to say his last goodbyes. That was the person he was – a quietly spoken achiever and fearless rider. May he always be remembered.
Rest In peace Mick Sandley
Neville Gray #3394
6/1/26 Welcome to the new year!
Committee nominations are now closed for our AGM in February.
Nominees are:
President: Maurice Stevens
Secretary: Ken Wagnitz
Treasurer: Robin Butler
Committee: Brian Cullinan, Val Cullinan, Ray Murray, Gary Priest, Michelle Stevens.
Val has offered to be our health rep. Rob Hartridge will remain as rides coordinator.
See you all at the February AGM to formalise things.
BTW, after our successful 2025 Odyssey, we donated our excess of $1,933.89 to Jamestown Apex.
29/12/25 January Newsletter is now available
13/9/25 The funeral of Judy Cook will be in the Wattle 1 Chapel at Enfield Memorial Park. 1pm Thursday 18th September.
Many of us will remember Judy as a lovely, helpful friend.
A big loss to the Ulysses Club and all of us.
23/7/25 The funeral service for Larry Caspers (Spook) is Friday 1st August, 2pm at Strathalbyn Oval.
17/7/25 Registration is live for the 2025 SA Odyssey.
ulyssesadelaide.org.au/odyssey/ will get you to the info and registration page.
Sadly, the grapevine whispers that Spook (Larry Caspers) is no longer with us.
4/6/25 For those wanting to pay their respects and farewell Bob Sadleir, the celebration of Bob’s life will he held at the Kangarilla Football Club, 1992 Kangarilla Rd, Kangarilla, Tuesday 10th June 2025 at 1.30pm. Followed by a burial in the Meadows Public Cemetery.
30/5/25 Do what you want to do, now. Stay in touch with friends & rellies.
Michele & I participated in the funeral ride for Trevor Staples today.
Was very sad to hear from Gary Parker (Fleurieu Branch, CFS member) that our old mate Bob Sadleir has died from a heart attack.
He hadn’t ridden with us for a while, but used to be a regular Sunday rider on his GS.
Will post funeral details if/when I get them. -Ken.
24/5/25 From Fleurieu Branch Facebook:
Funeral for Trevor Staples will be held at Alfred James Funeral Home, 272 Main South Rd, Morphett Vale. The Service starts at 10:30am Friday 30th May 2025.
Ulysses Club Fleurieu Branch members will be escorting the Hearse from Trevor and Helen’s home. Assemble at 9:00am to ride to Alfred James. Contact any committee member for the address.
1/5/25 Ray Haynes request has been resolved (see post below)
30/4/25 Recently a Ulyssian (Ray Haynes) from Geralton on his way back from the National Rally, wrote off his CanAm Spyder. He was towing a trailer and left it in Ian and Yvonne Pascoe’s care and travelled back to Geralton. He has since found a new Spyder for sale in Naracoorte but is asking for assistance from someone in Adelaide. (See the request below) If anyone can assist, please contact Ray Haynes direct.
Good morning Yvonne and Ian,
I hope that you are both happy and well. I note that you are away from home however I have an issue that I hope you can point me in the direction of some kindly assistance from the Ulysses family.
The can am spyder is being delivered to Unley from Naracoorte this Thursday May 1st.
The tow bar is being fitted on Monday at Somerton Park.
I am looking at asking if someone who lives near either Unley or Somerton can ride the bike from Unley to Somerton on Monday 5 May and return to Unley a few days later.??
I am happy to cover costs or make a donation to the Ulysses Club.
The addresses will be sent separately to you.
My arrival will depend on the arrival of a few parts for the backrest which Stuart Winter is fitting
I hope that will be in the week of 5 to 9 May
Thanks
Cheers Ray Haynes
[Name] Wayne Dingle Shadow Trailers 73 Tarlton St Somerton Park Adelaide
[Mobile] 0423 100 478
[Name] Stuart Winter Charles St Auto Repair (No. 27) Unley Adelaide
[Mobile] 0408 602 036
Ray Haynes
Phone 0429 373 374
From Geraldton Ulysses
09/03/25 Graham from Fleurieu Branch has created a Ulysses promo video complete with a song. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sR0dLTnRSY.
And the ride to Mt Torrens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTfcPqvU7rcv
03/02/25 Frank Pellas recently travelled to Geelong for the Million Dollar Bogan Ride with Trevor and Mike. He has created a Youtube video and can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD1LVB28tsE
02/01/25 Tonight’s meeting saw no new nominations for our committee.
All current committee members are prepared to carry on, so you are all stuck with the same mob!
You can see our smiling faces at https://ulyssesadelaide.org.au/wp/committee/.
With the death of a Torrens Valley rider, discussion turned to how you would contact the partner of a fallen rider. One method is to have the partner’s number on your phone lock screen. For an Android phone, go to ‘Settings’, ‘Lock Screen’. Scroll down to ‘Contact Information’. Click on that field and type in ICE <partner’s number>. (ICE is ‘In case of Emergency Contact’.) That will show on the phone screen when it is turned on, even while locked. -You could add medical conditions if necessary.
27/12/24 The February 2025 meeting will be our AGM.
Please come along.
You can download a copy of the committee nomination form here.
Nominations will close 6th Jan 2025.
04/10/24 Frank Pellas is looking for interested participants in the Million Dollar Bogan Charity Ride on 12th January 2025.
Please refer to the PDF for details.