for "what its worth"....

[jeffreyrempel]

Do you want to know what its worth?
.... do you expect to find out the value of your latest barn find or how much you should pay for a some john deere snowmobile?

Everyone wants to have some sense of the value of a recently purchased snowmobile or some snowmobile your thinking about buying. We are all the same. I am also guilty of asking the question on here, for example: my latest purchase of a 1976 JD Liquifire 340 that I payed $300 for. "ya"

I have a question then. "Who measures worth"
If I am thinking about buying a snowmobile for myself because I want it for my collection, I would have to say that its ME who measures the sleds worth. Not someone else just because they own more JD sleds than me and have been collecting longer than me. BUT, I do appreciate the knowledge of these individuals.

I have decided that I am not going to feel guilty about how much I spend on a snowmobile, or worry if I payed too much because if I decide to spend $1000 on a 1978 Cyclone.... I dont have to tell anyone.
This is just my opinion....for "what its worth" whether or not its of value. LOL
Peace and happy new year.
Jeff

[400brian]

In most cases, the purchase price is small potatoes next to what you can wind up sticking into it.

It's cheaper to buy them nice than to make them that way, but even if a guy buys a pig in a poke, it is a cheap hobby compared to say; collector cars or pulling tractors.

Even if you steal a sled, by the time you get it restored you can't get your money out of it, so I don't even keep track of it. Besides, I just enjoy hanging out with you fools.

[JDT]

Reserecting these old girls is a labor of love.
You will never get rich doing it.

If I were to put a value on my time I would never touch a wrench again.

When it is time to sell an old sled you may have $700 into it but only get an offer of $600.

But there was the fun of the search, the windshield time picking it up, meeting a new face, the joy of the teardown, the suprises you find.
What some people wouldn't do to keep it running 30 years ago!
The trips to the hardware store, digging through boxes of parts looking for that missing piece and finding a part you forgot you had for a sled you finshed last year and had to buy that part!!
Riding the thing for the first time. Knowing that it has not been enjoyed in 30 years. Taking it to a vintage ride, showing it at an event, seeing it draw attention.
That is what is all about.

What is it worth? A whole lot.
It is worth more to some than others. But what it is worth to you is what really counts.

[dator]

Well said!!!
Happy New Year Everybody

Bob E

[nick80lf]

Brian & Todd,

I have to agree with Bob. You guys couldn't have stated it any better.

[80spitfire]

You guys are right on the money with this one. It's a complete labor of love and you'll probably never get as much money out of it as you put in it, but dang it it sure was fun restoring it wasn't it?! To me it's worth every penny, every tireless hour in the garage, every minute on this forum looking for parts and meeting new people and every sleepless night when you're excited about it snowing outside your window. It's worth it when you're able to pull that go rope for the first time and take the sled that you built yourself out for the first ride after the restoration. There is just something to be said about the pride in that first ride. I realize that I'm probably going to have way too much time and money in my Dator when it's done, but I don't care because it'll be my Dator that I restored not someone else's and to me that's the most important part.

-Brian

[JDMIKE8100]

When I restored the first 340 Liquifire,I did not keep track of costs.It did get pricey after completely redoing the hood.
Sold it to a JD collector for decent coin,figured I boke even with some quick mental math.
When I did the 440 Liquifire a year or so ago,though I would keep track of costs.Got half way through the project and was pleasantly surprised at how well
I had kept the cost down.Then I ran into electrical problems,I quit keeping track of costs because I didn't want to know.
In the end all that matered to me was a nice looking sled that I enjoy riding and taking to events and saving a peice of JD history that may have ended up in the scrap heap.

[S_Kyle]

There are alot of us that have been guilty of this at one point in time or anouther. In some cases I still revert back to this practice, as there are some of the rarer and more desirable sleds to have a bit of an established value to them. The last time I had to ask this on a fourm was when I located a 4 cylinder king kat, I was not able to purchase the machine but at least I had kind of an idea as to what I was going to have to pay. I will have to do it again as I have the approximate coordinates of a pair of Bull whips and my uncles old 71 Bullet 793.

Just a few thoughts
Scott

[JDT]

two words Scott.... ka-ching... ka-ching

[S_Kyle]

Todd, if I could get all four of them I think together they would have more value than my truck and herd as it stands now.

[JDT]

I know what the Scrops are worth but the MotoSki's?

It has to be very high.

[S_Kyle]

Todd, I have only seen one other Bullet and it had no motor and was in pieces. I belive because of the KMS fiasco they had recalled most of the bullets and I was told once sent them to the big crusher in the sky. Sad thing my uncle at one time raced 3 of them, I had herd of the 650 red Barron and the 793 surviving. The 793 was raced by I belive the last owner for a few years after it was retired by the dealership. The 292 KMS machine has disappeared to parts unknown.

[JD_Sledder68]

I look at it like this:

This hobby is no different than my fascination for saving old Musclecars from the 60's and 70's. The only change is that the amount of money spent is exponentially higher for the cars than for the sleds!!

I paid $450.00 each for 2 (76 and 78) Liquifire 340's. I would like to have paid less, but around here a Liquifire of any year/engine size is hard to come by. I am now up to about $750.00 on the 78, and that is just for light bulbs, secondary clutch rebuild, temp guage, carb rebuilds, fuel lines, and fuel tank pickup.

Like someone else on here said.......I just don't keep track after a while!

[jeffreyrempel]

I paid $300 for my 1976 Liquifire 340, and It is a nice complete one. I guess spending $210 (includes shipping) for a NOS snowflap on ebay last week was just the start of another expensive restoration. Here I go again....

[AirborneX4Special]

I paid $300 for my 1976 Liquifire 340, and It is a nice complete one. I guess spending $210 (includes shipping) for a NOS snowflap on ebay last week was just the start of another expensive restoration. Here I go again....

You were the highest bidder, which means someone else had similar ideas for that snowflap. That aside, where will you find the next NOS one?