Cabin-Chasing CB550K from Goose Chase Cycles…
Unveiled in early 1971, the original Honda CB500 Four addressed two of the most common criticisms of the much-lauded CB750: size and weight. The new middleweight, wet-sump CB500 was nearly 70 pounds lighter than its big sibling, and still packed 47 horsepower.
“The bike was well received by the public and would go on to be arguably the best of the early air-cooled fours with some of the poise and litheness of the 350, whilst almost being up there with the 750 in terms of performance.” –More Bikes
In 1974, the CB550 only improved on the same recipe, bored to 544cc with an improved transmission. Today, it’s considered one of the most well balanced motorcycles of the era. Lighter and more affordable than the 750, with more grunt than the 350 and 400 Fours. It’s also a highly popular candidate for custom builds.
This one comes from our buddy Cullen Osborne, owner of Goose Chase Cycles. We first met Cullen at the Wildsville Scramble a few years ago, held annually on the property of painter extraordinaire Chastin Brand. Cullen got his start on one of the most beloved Hondas of all time:
“I grew up causing mayhem in the suburbs with a 1973 Honda Z50 that I still have today. I think I got it when I was like 10 years old and just grew up wrenching on that thing. I probably put 1000 miles on it and barely ever left a ½ mile radius.”
When Cullen lost his job as a fabricator for the film industry in 2020, he opened Goose Chase Cycles, building bikes out of a 10,000 square-foot shared shop in Atlanta. He focuses on full wiring overhauls, custom metal fabrication, machining, 3D scanning, upholstery, precision tuning, and ground-up builds.
“At Goose Chase, we’re craftsmen, not just builders. We blend timeless design with cutting-edge manufacturing to create bikes that aren’t just cool toys—they’re heirlooms. Built to be ridden, admired, and handed down. Every part and every bike is designed with the end user in mind: you.”
Fast forward a few years, and Cullen and his young family have moved down to an old family property on the edge of the Apalachicola National Forest in Hosford, Florida. His wife’s great-grandfather actually rolled the old ranch house on logs to its present location! Cullen is currently working out of a small garden shed while restoring an old 28 x 56 brooder house once used for chickens and bee processing.
The ’76 CB550K you see here was built for Atlanta artist Daniel Soder. While it was originally going to be more of a cafe racer, Cullen’s background — and the owner’s needs — took the bike in a different direction.
“With my dirt bike background I have a tendency to put knobbies on fricken everything. He was building a cabin out in the Carolinas at the time and I started to kinda take the project more into the scrambler realm…”
The bike was completely rewired, using some nice Motogadget goodies and a trick micro LED taillight sold on the Goose Chase website. Cullen made both the headlight bracket and speedo mount from real brass.
“Both were CNC-machined by yours truly and the headlight bracket got slip rolled.”
Cullen’s buddy Cole Tompkins of BCB Cabinets has a massive, rebuilt Italian CNC router from the 1990s, which was used to cut the electric pan and other parts. Cullen also got into resin printing, which is how the air louver on the front end was made.
The bike is now running a Murray’s Carbs dual carb kit for more power and better throttle response, and the rear Öhlins shocks make for a much better ride than the stockers.
“It rides like a dream surprisingly. I mean you look at it and you think like “thumpy dirt bike,” but it honestly feels like you’re riding a sewing machine. I gotta give it up to those Honda four cylinders because it just was smooth all the way out.”
Whether you’re in Florida or beyond, and you need a bike built / rewired / tuned, parts machined, or just about anything else, we highly recommend you contact Cullen at Goose Chase Cycles — he’s good people. Below is our full interview with the man himself, as well as more photographs courtesy of Robert Downing (@recreational_robbie).
Honda CB550K Custom: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
Ok so my name is Cullen Osborne, I’m 28 years old, and my shop’s name is Goose Chase Cycles. I grew up causing mayhem in the suburbs with a 1973 Honda Z50 that I still have today. I think I got it when I was like 10 years old and just grew up wrenching on that thing. I probably put 1000 miles on it and barely ever left a ½ mile radius. Pretty sure it was supposed to be running when we showed up to the Craigslist ad but my dad had to end up swapping the carb. I honestly didn’t even know it was for me, it’s not like something I had asked for.
I was always into bikes and skating but that thing was like my first motor. I remember using it to sneak out of the neighborhood with a buddy of mine who had a similar Honda and we would go night fishing and stuff around Alpharetta, GA. I may or may not have snuck out one time to meet some girl but I remember totally wrecking it on the way there and limping it back home at like 2am. Hit a parked car…jeeze I just wasn’t looking. I was typing in her address on an iphone 3g while riding and not looking up. Talk about growing up Gen Z.
It was pretty natural for me to start a motorcycle shop in 2020 after I lost my job fabricating for the movie industry in Atlanta. Covid had shut it down and I was about to be a new dad at like 23 so I figured if I was going to start a company it’s kinda now or never. We built bikes in Atlanta for around four years, but just recently moved outside of Tallahassee, Florida to a little town called Hosford. I really wanted somewhere that was away from people and all that so I could just sit down and focus on bikes.
We ended up moving from our house in Lawrenceville to some property that my wife’s family owned down here. I was sharing like 10,000 square feet with a buddy of mine from the old movie industry days, but now I’m in a 384 Sq ft garden shed and my wife and I are living in a little 1920s Florida ranch house that her Great Grandpa rolled here, haha. They literally rolled it down to this patch of grass on logs and it didn’t have a bathroom or a kitchen. Fortunately he built on to it later on and the kitchen is honestly bigger and nicer than our old one (minus the asbestos floor).
As for the shop, though, like I said, I have a little dojo / garden shed and I’m in the process of restoring a 28 x 56 brooder house that her Great Grandpa used for chickens and bee processing. It’s nice to be out here on our own, but I might’ve over shot the map a little when it comes to seclusion.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the donor bike?
1976 Honda CB550K.
• Why was this bike built?
This was a customer project we did for one of the greatest guys I’ve had the pleasure to meet. He’s an artist out of Atlanta and just a real creative guy. He knew what he wanted but he also listened to me a ton. He really respects art in all forms.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
I think originally it was kind of meant to be like a standard cafe racer, but with my dirt bike background I have a tendency to put knobbies on fricken everything. He was building a cabin out in the Carolinas at the time and I started to kinda take the project more into the scrambler realm for sure.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
We fully gutted the old wiring and brought it up to date. Wired everything from scratch using some of the nicer Motogadget products.
I had to build a fair bit of custom stuff. The headlight bracket is custom-made out of real brass, same with the speedo mount. Both were CNC-machined by yours truly and the headlight bracket got slip rolled.
I CNC-cut the electric pan as well which was nice. First time I got to put our logo on to something like that. My buddy Cole Tompkins had rebuilt this crazy 1990s Italian CNC Router that weighed like 20,000 lbs probably, so naturally we cut it on that thing.
We also got to dive into the process of resin printing which we’re pretty good at now. We printed (a fair bit of times) the little air louver on the front end there.
• Any idea of horsepower, weight, and/or performance numbers?
Pretty much stock on all that. We did upgrade the carbs to Murray’s dual carb set up which
made the bike run a lot better.
• Can you tell us what it’s like to ride this bike?
Riding the bike is actually kind of hilarious. It rides like a dream surprisingly. I mean you look at it and you think like “thumpy dirt bike,” but it honestly feels like you’re riding a sewing machine. I gotta give it up to those Honda 4 cylinders because it just was smooth all the way out. Not to mention it’s on Ohlins so that was a nice touch. Shout out to the client for throwing down for those.
If I got the opportunity to, I’d strip the front end down and rebuild it with some nicer stuff. The front end is still stock CB for the most part. It can be a bit bumpy.
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
My favorite modification that we did was the tail light, which hardly shows up in these pictures. It’s this sweet little micro LED tail light that mounts to the rear hoop. We sell it as a product now on our website and the way it’s attached is pretty slick.
• Is there anyone you’d like to thank?
For sure, I’d like to thank Daniel Soder first of all for being the all time best client; he was so patient with the whole process too and put down some serious coinage. Without dudes like him, works of art like this just don’t happen, or happen at least way too slowly.
Also Rob Devlin with Eclectic Cycle Works in Atlanta for pushing me to get the Murray Carbs. Robert Downing aka @recreational_robbie for the photography, and my bud Cole Tompkins with BCB Cabinets in Buford — without him I would be just a cut rate metal fabricator.
Follow the Builder
Web: GooseChaseCycles.com
Instagram: Goose Chase Cycles
Photography by @recreational_robbie
In the navy,I stepped up to the CB500 -4 from the CL-350 ‘Scrambler’ twin of my high school days. Eventually I owned the second gen, ’79 CB750, but not before the ’74 Triumph Trident which was the 1st 5 speed. Many more after.
Hard to believe a guy with this much talent would build a bike with knobbies and no back fender. I mean come on man, it’s just caving to conventional fads.
Otherwise this bike is so nice. Really.
Nice build but where is the rear fender and what about some side panels to cover up the hole where the airbox was.