58 / American Iron / Issue #379 AIMag.com
give the bike a big custom look,” says Sjaak. However,
by “big” and “custom,” Jan didn’t mean “raked” and
“stretched.” Jan wanted all that kept to a minimum—which
didn’t really leave Sjaak with many options. But Sjaak even-
tually decided on making a frame with a single front down-
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After dropping off his donor bike, Jan’s XL soon began
accumulating a host of other L&L
parts. But that doesn’t mean every
add-on was forged there. And that
doesn’t mean every alternative
didn’t come from Sjaak’s parts
catalog. Because many did. As
Sjaak reveals, he also “sells mostly
sought-after products that are
normally hard to get,” many of
which he usually tries to install on
his builds, including Jan’s Iron-
head. For example, Sjaak matched
one of his oil bags with a rare
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people reading this magazine
wouldn’t consider that part even a
tad bit uncommon, since it’s made
in the US. But for people living
in Europe, that makes it very
hard to come by. “As far as I know, we are the only dealer in
Europe that has them,” Sjaak says. “It’s the kind of product
that’s not made for the masses. You gotta know people, like
a friend of a friend.”
Much like how Sjaak’s bikes generally feature both L&L
and rare components, they now tend to have more engine
work done on them, such as split valve covers and bent oil
lines. And on this build, Sjaak’s favorite mod just so happens
to be that kind of job: the split heads. “You can’t buy them
like that,” he explains. “It needs some expertise to make
them, an expertise not every shop
has.”
But Sjaak couldn’t just split
or install parts willy-nilly (well,
he could have, but it probably
wouldn’t have ended happily).
Like the chassis, Jan had a vague
idea of what he wanted: “a cool
chop with a classic feel and racy
appearance.” A combination
of certain parts—including the
bars, brakes, and Cole Foster gas
tank—contribute to the racebike
aesthetic. Meanwhile, “things like
our vintage tires, special wiring
and sparkplug cables make you
think the bike was built long ago,”
Sjaak says.
Once Sjaak had installed
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and then tore it all down. But not because it didn’t ride
smoothly (if you can even say that anything involving a hard-