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| Archives - Custom Motorcycles |
Real-World Custom: 1978 Yamaha XS650 - From RoadBike July 2009
Jason Bonham’s Different Beat By Sam Whitehead, Photos by Bob Feather
If you haven’t had this experience, you’re forgiven. Frankly, there aren’t too many of us who have piloted a Boeing 727 into La Paz, Bolivia. It’s not a bad airstrip if you’re cool about rocketing a massive, passenger-stuffed piece of tin into the ground. For the record, the ground is 13,000' above sea level, not exactly a locale chock-full of oxygen. Then there’s launching that mighty winger back into the stratosphere. “If you’ve never done it, you would have no idea,” says Joe Capicotti. “You nail it, or you go down. And the entire plane’s O2 system has to be recalibrated so the masks don’t deploy. I’ve got to tell you, it’s quite terrifying.” Times like that are when you get to thinking what should I do with the rest of my days? Have a shot of Scope, clip on a tie, don my navy blues, and try to avoid drilling a load of civilians into the side of an Andes Mountain outcropping? Or, perhaps, start a motorcycle television show and build a bike for Jason Bonham, Led Zeppelin’s second-generation sticks-and-skin madman?
Being no fool, Joe chose Option B. Sort of. Before he twisted up this insanely cool, ode-to-Kenny-Roberts 1978 Yamaha XS650 street tracker, he put together a TV show and a crack team of motorsports junkies. The 2Xtreem Motorcycle TV crew consists of Joe, Chief David Buchanan, Secondary Wrench Curt Rieckel, and Joe’s son, Chase. And how could one overlook the lovely April Hodges? “She is our female representative,” Joe boasts. “She’s not just another pretty face, though. I mean, she’s very cute, but she’s also the 2003 Women’s Amateur Motocross National Champion, so the girl can ride.” April isn’t the only 2Xtreemer who can ride. All of them regularly compete on tracks and dirt pits throughout the country. In fact, Joe is gearing up for his second privateer shot at the Daytona 200. His last turn on that fabled track was in 1998, when he ran the entire race on one set of tires. Apparently, Joe was helping someone out and gave him his second pair of spinners. “I second-guess that decision now,” Joe laughs. “I made a sacrifice that cost me a lot. I mean, I knew I would have to run that race as smooth as possible. No pushing it. I actually moved my way up to 20th during the 200, but then, on lap 47, the rear tire spit me off while I was on the west bank. I got back on, though, with a broken window screen, broken clutch lever, and broken face shield. I got a standing ovation by the corner workers when I actually remounted and finished the race.” Joe’s rubber didn’t fair quite as well, though. “My tires were literally blue when I was done. The Dunlop people were shocked that I made it. They advised me to never try that again.” Sound advice, for sure. The bottom line is Joe and his 2Xtreemers love bikes and speed. They need both, and it’s reflected in their TV show, which was recently test-run to great acclaim on Fox Sports Net. In other words, after kicking around on regional networks, 2Xtreem might just go national. And then you may be able to see it! Miracle of miracles. The premise of the show is to provide a solid MC program for real motorcyclists. “I didn’t want to produce something for enthusiasts that was skewed one way or the other based on cooked-up drama,” Joe explains. What could Joe possibly be talking about? In an effort to, as Joe says, “Keep it real,” 2Xtreem covers events and races, while also building bikes for institutions like NASA, or dudes like Jason Bonham. How exactly that’s keeping it real — and unlike other MC shows — isn’t quite clear, but let’s not go there. Joe is a great guy, he sleeps and eats motorcycles, and he runs a popular show, so he gets a pass. Jason Bonham is also a great guy, sleeps and eats motorcycles, and is very much part of a popular show. That show would be Led Zeppelin. Does that ring a bell? If the name Bonham seems suspiciously familiar, that’s because it is. Jason’s dad was the late John Bonham, Zep’s original drummer, and arguably the greatest kit-man in rock and roll history.
When Jason returned from that historic Zeppelin reunion show in London last year, Joe suggested that he give himself a little reward for a job well done. Jason thought about a streetbike, but then he stumbled. “I’m not really a street guy,” Jason said to Joe. “But I really do need to get a streetbike.” Joe threw out the idea of zinging up a classic street tracker from the ’70s, his dad’s era. “Jason’s eyes lit up with that offer because it took him back,” Joe recalls. “And John Bonham had a lot of bikes then.” The plan progressed when Joe asked Jason if he had a favorite racer from back in the day. Without hesitation, Jason claimed Kenny Roberts as a hero. The game was on. Kenny Roberts with a dash of Led Zeppelin flair was the order. “The hardest part was trying to find a bike to start with,” Joe says. “We needed a ’77 or ’78 XS650 simply because they are set up the best to make this conversion.” Needless to say they found the bike on eBay and shipped it down to 2Xtreem headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida. Like all good bike projects, this began as a basket case, requiring much time and effort to find the parts needed or custom-make the ones that couldn’t be bought. Joe shrugs, “You can imagine trying to find things for a 31-year-old motorcycle.” Yes, Joe, as a matter of fact, we can. Things got shot into order after Joe roped Mike (“no last name”) of Mike’s XS into the task. “We could never have done it without him,” Joe states. “He’s got a company that remanufactures parts specifically for these bikes.” Mike, in turn, hooked Joe up with the famed XS tuner Jerry Heiden of Amsterdam. No sooner did Jerry get wind of the Jason Bonham bike that he was on a flight from the Netherlands.
With the motor being given the business, Joe and crew set about creating some Led Zeppelin-inspired bling. Note the diamond-cut fins, abundant chrome, reshaped rear fender, interlaced sprockets, custom seat, black bars, wild headlights, and general abundance of sparkling yellow paint. There are also several Zeppelin logos, including John Bonham’s three beloved locked circles. And the XR era tank, custom-built and specially treated to hold today’s ethanol-heavy fuels. The details are vast to say the least. “We went all the way with this thing,” Joe declares. “It is truly a race bike that is street-legal and loaded with rock-and-roll flair.” As for Jason, he is dying to ride his new toy. Just don’t expect him on the track. “Hell, no,” the drummer boy says. “It’s too nice. I don’t want to drop it.” Just like Joe no longer wants to fly into La Paz. RB
OWNER Jason Bonham ENGINE ENGINE Yamaha 650 twin rephased to 270-degree firing order Chassis Accessories HEADLIGHT Twin Halogen Projector beams through number plate |
And now a little back story. Jason moved from England to south Florida several years ago. A competitive motocross rider (he once slew for Team Green in Europe) and a huge fan of things two-wheeled, Jason met Joe through shared MC interests. Later, when Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones were planning a reunion concert, they tapped Jason to occupy his old man’s seat. Jason was already a seriously accomplished drummer, so that worked. And, as it turned out, the legendary British rockers declared that a Bonham it had to be. They didn’t want anybody else. Now that’s keeping it real.
“We refazed the motor to a 270-degree firing order,” Joe notes. That involves cutting the crank and cam and then reassembling them, a job that scared Joe. So, Jerry came to the rescue. “Jerry has more experience working on these motors than anyone in the world.”