Contact details
E-mail: aunty.ratbag5[at]hotmail.com
Facebook: WIMA Australia
About WIMA Australia
WIMA Australia was there at the beginning – Hazel Mayes of Sydney was invited by founder Louise Scherbyn to become the first international member of WIMA. Hazel owned a BSA but was well-known in central Sydney as the pilot of the Harley “buntruck” provided by her employer. Very little is known about WIMA Australia from the mid-fifties, but it seems to have faded away in the late sixties or early seventies. Hazel Mayes was an honoured guest at WIMA’s 50th birthday celebration, held at Kiama, Sydney in April 2000. In 1984 WIMA Australia was reborn in Adelaide under the leadership of Linda Bootherstone (Bick). The National President and Committee are elected at the Annual General Meeting, held in a different State each year, to acknowledge the national nature of our membership. A quarterly newsletter, ride calendar, mid-winter dinner and members welcome to attend quarterly committee meetings means an active membership. WIMA AUstralia has hosted two international rallies: 2015 on Phillip Island and 2000 in Kiama.
Notable Members
Kathy O’Donnell, President since 2020
Bikes came into my life when I went for a ride on the back of a Laverda and we went over the ton i.e. 100 miles an hour plus. I’ve been hooked on bikes ever since. My first bike was a 90cc centrifugal clutch Honda which I rode to work. Its top speed was 35mph and took less than a dollar to fill. My next bike was a Honda CB 250, then a Yamaha SX 350, followed by a BMW LS650, a Kawasaki Ninja 900 and currently a Triumph Sprint 1050.
I joined WIMA in 1993 and as National President, I think it’s important for women riders to stay in contact and to grow our membership. I encourage this by attending WIMA rallies internationally, WIMA events at home, and other bike rallies all year round in Australia. I also work as a volunteer at the MotoGP and World Superbikes at Phillip Island. Having a great committee helps me with this. Australia is huge. Women who live near each other can meet up, ride together and enjoy camaraderie. Women living further afield need to communicate using whatever means available eg: Facebook, Instagram, Zoom and joining Motorcycle Clubs like WIMA.
Linda Bick (Bootherstone)
I learned to ride about 1963 on a sidevalve BSA C10L 250 and joined WIMA when I met Maureen Willis at the docks in Dover, England. The longest trip I did at that time was to the FIM rally in Moscow, behind the Iron Curtain on my 500 Triumph. I emigrated to Australia in 1969 and since then have travelled all over the world by bike: through Africa in 1974-5 on a BMW R50, the USA in 1983 where I met Louise Scherbyn, before returning to Australia and restarting WIMA in 1984. I lived in Spain for 16 years and with other WIMA members organised the 2001 International Rally, then rode from Germany to Australia on a DR650, celebrating my 60th in the Himalayas. My 70th was spent in Bolivia on a 125 Yamaha on a three-month trip which included Chile and Argentina. I’ve published four books about my travels and now ride a postie bike 110cc at home.
Moira Stewart
A friend introduced me to the newly re-formed WIMA in 1985 and I was the Victoria State Rep for WIMA from 1986 and national president from 1988-2000 when I handed over to Jennifer Killen to run the international rally in Kiama NSW.
Since then, I have been to rallies in Japan, GB Lancashire, Switzerland, Poland, Estonia, GB again in Castleton and France, representing Australia as the national president at most. I can’t imagine my life without bikes and all the different aspects of it that I have enjoyed: touring, sidecar racing, instructing and licence testing, WIMA and our rallies, three terms as national president for a total of 20 years and other WIMA executive positions.
As one of my T-shirts says ‘A woman’s place is on the road’.
Carmel Sanders
Carmel has been a much-loved fixture of WIMA since she joined as member number 4, in 1984/5 but took the number 13 as nobody else wanted it. Learning to ride in 1980, aged 50, Carmel has ridden round Australia twice, across the Nullabor five times, up through the middle and over to Queensland. Carmel lives in Adelaide, aged 90 and is a keen user of social media, keeping us all entertained.
