Building your own custom motorcycle is an incredibly rewarding experience… until it isn’t anymore. The owner of this 1976 Honda CB550F can relate. After taking a crack at rebuilding it himself, he threw in the towel and decided to hand it over to a pro shop, rather than let it become another abandoned shed build.
Since the owner’s based in Chicago, Federal Moto got the call. ?When we picked up the bike it was a mess,? says shop boss, Mike Muller. ?Rusty, tired and well ridden for decades. He wanted the full Federal treatment, wheel to wheel, giving us complete creative freedom with colors and design.?

?His only request was ‘make it fast as f-k.’ So here’s what we came up with: the ‘Go Fast’.? Federal has spent the last while staffing up and moving to a bigger space. So they now offer a bunch of new engine-related services on top of their usual custom work. The CB was in good hands.

For starters, Federal’s head technician, Chris Goerg, went to town on the tired motor. It’s been fully rebuilt and blueprinted, with a 592cc piston kit from Dynoman Performance. APE Race Cranks lightened and balanced the crankshaft, while Webcam Racing supplied a new camshaft.
Chris also installed KPMI valves, springs and guides, then angled the valves. Other upgrades include a Dyna ignition, a Barnett clutch kit and Keihin CR carbs. The exhaust system is a thing of beauty; stainless steel headers mated to a throaty Cone Engineerin...