Written by Andrew Jones
?It?s hard to say what style the bike is. Maybe a reverse restomod"? It?s a seemingly innocuous statement, but New Zealand’s Mike Dobson and his Two Cats Garage instantly had us hooked. Most of us will know what a restomod is, but a reverse restomod" Well, it’s taking a modern bike with all the bells and whistles and customising it to give it more of a classic look. Sound interesting" Well whatever the terminology, Mike, along with his mate Ken at Better Boxer Co. have just joined forces to take a nondescript ?93 BMW R100R forward to the past.

Wellington’s Better Boxer Co. (a.k.a Ken Howe) has owned, ridden, repaired and modified BMW boxer motorcycles for himself and others for the past decade. And after studying product design, he’s now produced a range of BMW boxer aftermarket parts, too. Friend Michael Dobson has been a BMW motorcycle mechanic since 1978. He has spannered on several race bikes, built a few specials and now works from home in Raumati Beach, just north of Ken.
The bike was picked up new from the Berlin BMW factory, a popular method of delivery that allowed antipodean customers a European moto holiday along with the (now defunct) ability to import their brand new bikes back into the country as second-hand vehicles, avoiding certain taxes. This particular bike ended up in the North New Zealand town of Martinborough for a very quiet life of pottering around the region’s vineyards. 60,00...