We are pleased to announce that Gottagged is branching out and adding an additional two wheels to the traditional four. We would like to introduce you to Dave Sowden and Cornel van der Merwe as the new motorcycle correspondents on our team.
David Sowden
As far back as Dave can remember, he had an interest in things with wheels. Big machines, small machines, strong machines, fast machines, he climbed into or onto all of them whenever he could. When the real machines weren’t available, he just pretended. The apricot tree in the back garden was a tank. The sandpit was his dad’s bakkie. His favorite though, was the seesaw. Because that seesaw was his motorbike!
That seesaw/motorbike was faster than anything man had ever made. It was even capable of going faster than dad on the highway when mom wasn’t in the car, a herculean task in the eyes of a young Dave. Today, the only thing that has changed is that Dave has swapped the seesaw for an actual motorbike. His fascination with anything using a motor for propulsion continues, but he is happiest when on two wheels. “The world looks full HD and multi-dimensional when it isn’t viewed through a windscreen.”
Cornel van der Merwe
As with most boys, Cornel grew up fascinated with electronic and mechanical engineering marvels, resulting in most of his free time from his childhood spent assembling scale model kits, playing with gadgets and tech toys, as well as endlessly paging through magazines on the subject of science and mechanics. It is no surprise then, that he became an enthusiastic petrol-head at an early age in his life, and first swung a leg over a motorcycle at age six. Cornel still fondly recalls the smell from the smoke cloud that his little two-stroke 50cc scrambler produced; “It is probably one of the best and most exciting memories from my early years, I was so thrilled when my dad revealed the best birthday gift a boy could ask for.”
Close to 30 years later, the excitement from his boyhood is still evident every time he sees a new bike that grasps his attention. As an experienced rider, including everything from high-powered performance motorcycles to small cc scooters, we believe that Cornel is a perfect candidate to test ride and report on a vast variety of bikes, suited for a widespread audience.
