Surfing craigs list I came across this:

http://maine.craigslist.org/rvs/1461853902.html

99 Mike Houle Mach Z, not mine...wish it was though.

Just thought I would share...

4K!!!!!!!!!!!!

darn drug addicts anyway.

One of the best looking Doos ever built, IMO.

Ive seen a few out there for sale and they are all dreamers with the price.

Everyone on this board, including myself thinks these sleds are the best thing out there yet you all believe they're worth nothing. I don't get it.??*scratches head*

And I don't include myself in the second sentiment.

To me its just a yellow mach z

any mach z is nice to me

I like you think it's just another Mach Z but I was saying in general. We all like these sleds but most on the board believe they're not worth anything. That's what I don't get.

I have both a 98 Mach1 with 15,000 km on it and STILL looks and rides like brand (okay so I just rebuilt the engine top to bottom) and an 03 Mach Z
To me, either are worth more than the few bucks I'd get from the so called enthusiests that think these sleds are fantastic, if I were to sell either.

^x2 Just a yellow z I can buy clean ones for 1500 around here.Just because it says mike houle on it doesnt mean its worth more imo

Special Edition

x2

There is always a buyer for them.
If I had the money I would make a offer.
It would be nice to have that, a millinium Mach, and a 2000 FIII 800 to add to my stable w/ my 2000 Mach 1. All limited builds or spring order only nice to have them...

Here is one for shorter $$ though he thinks its a snow Xer LOL Mike Houle Mach Z

Not bad, low miles...unless it was all done on a snowcross track!

1999 Mike Houle Signature Snow Cross Racer series Mach Z 800

Nobody said their worth nothing. You dont think 4K is way out of line?
Some people need to come to reality, it wasn't all that much more than that new.
The other thing I find impossible is almost every Mach you see for sale has "low miles".
Come'on! A 10-15 year old sled with only 2500 miles? Ya, your Mama!!!

New speedometers for sale dirt cheap...zero miles. Get em while they last

I know alot unplug them, but there are still a number of that are just not used alot.
Like mine, I got it with low 800 miles last fall. you could tell it was real, there was not a spec of dirt, rust or corrision on the sled. infact, if it said 200 miles on it you would believe it. Now there are 1300.

I struggled to get 500 miles last winter...I use to ride that in a weekend...boy things change when you have kids!

I put all the millenium upgrades on the trail houle, chrome trailing arms and grab bar, and added the yellow kit to the back. Skidoo should have made them like that. imo

In perspective, it might be alot of money compared to everything else of that same era, but I've seen people pay these "ridiculous" prices over and over. Two millennium mach's sold recently for 3500 and 3900, so people are def. willing to pay...

On the speedo thing, that def. does suck b/c it is so easy to just unhook it for a few years and look at that 10 yr. old sled with 1500 miles, you can usually always tell tho. There was a 98 mach on ebay a few weeks back with 800 miles, looked like it had 8000, motor a mess, rubber chipped of the idler wheels, scratches on the hood from being on it's side. It's usually pretty obvious....

There is a nice Millenium Z on Lansing Mi. craigs list with 2000 miles #50 for $4500.00 if you think its worth it.

as far as mileage goes, I have also seen sleds here in Michigan that have legitimate "low" miles, I'm talking in the under 1,000 miles area. What people dont sometimes realize is its the miles spent on the trailer between destinations that can sometimes cause alot of the "tarnish".......I see 100's of guys haulng sleds on open trailers with no salt shield. Some with covers on them, some without....even with a good heavy duty canvas oem cover on them, all that salt from the roads still gets through and you end up with a soaked sled. You dont realize it until the sled dries out, and by the time it does, its too late. Not everyone has the luxury of having a heated garage with hot water to rinse sleds off after every ride. Michigan uses ALOT of salt on the highways and it causes alot of damage on anything traveling on them. Another consideration that has been mentioned before and also met with alot of disgust, are the guys who let their sled sit out back in the toolies without a cover all summer long. I dont know how they keep the mice and critters out of it...well..obviously they dont!!!! Anyways.....dont be so quick to jump conclusions about questioning if the mileage is "actual".......road salt and how the previous owner has transported/stored the sled probably has ALOT more to do with it than unhookng the speedo or hooking a dremel up to the cable and running it in reverse. Yes, I have seen that done too and it does work. Mileage doesn't concern me as much as the physical appearance of the sled I am looking at. I check to make sure it is mechanically and structurally sound.....you could fina a sled with low miles that has a shredded bulk head, but it looks so clean on the outside that you dont even bother to check out the more "important" issues. I think the moral of the story here is just be smart guys......you may be able to take miles off a speedo, but you cant take the miles off the appearance of the sled itself or the mechanical condition either. we have all been around these sleds long enough to know what to look for and what to stay away from......and let's face it....."deals" are getting harder and harder to come by on sleds that skidoo ceased production on over 6 yrs ago!!!!

All I know is that I have witnessed about 5 sleds, not owned by me... I've personnnally seen the owners show me how they took the wire connection to the speedo apart. They're sleds look immaculate....no road salt...the engine and every inch of the sled looks immaculate.....but still the speedo is disconnected.. In my opinion, ur better off to look at the compression ......at least that way u can have a better idea if a stock sled...is what it is...If he said he just rebuilt it obviously it should be nice n high, if not ..... but if the sled says a low km, and theres been no rebuilding and the compressions low....this could be an obvious hint that the speedo has been disconnected? JMO guys sorry to rant....I've just seen too many ppl do this, after one season of riding theyr not concerned with the speedo and ride it balls *** and then trade it in, anywho just look it over good and test the compression in my books? JMO

the sled I bought is a 99 machZ, it reads only 7033 km's on the speedo. Its in absolute mint condition and is 100% stock. I bought from a couple who sold it cause they bought a touring machine instead. The engine was taken apart at the dealers last year as it had been sitting for several years, they told me the center was a little lower then the others on compression so the couple decided not to take any chances as the lady didnt want to worry about being stranded. Just bt looking at it you can tell its the original miles. I know very well the dealer where they had the maintenance done and he told me it was a very good machine to buy, he still had the jug in hands for that machine and said if they hadnt asked he would have never made the change but thats what they wanted. He gave me the jug as I bought the machine and it looks next to new ( know i have a spare jug ). But like some said, i did see some low milleage machines that where , at first glance nice but as you look further in you can see wear and tear signs. IMO, its all up to, a thorough inspection is the only that that will tell you wether to buy it or not.A machine with lotsa milleage but that has regular maintenence can also be a very good buy as you know nothing was left for granted on it. Some people ride them practically every day they can but take good care of there machine. My friend has a 2000 machZ with about 28000 km's on but the thing is still mint, and nothing is left broken or worn on it, he rides alot and makes sure it takes him back every time. So like I said, milleage is + or - sighn, inspection is the best way to know. I paid mine a little more then what they go for but its worth it.

x2 ... a well looked after machine is what your after. The amount of miles on a sled does factor into it but not as much as the actual condition of the sled and the way it was taken care of. It usually doesn't take long to figure out if the owner is a "ride it till it breaks" or a "ridden hard and put away wet" kinda guy. I drove all the way out to Ontario to buy my 99 and it was worth it ... the original owner spared no expense when it came to looking after his "baby".

EXACTLY!!!! This was the simple point I was trying to make in my post....to put it lightly, I would be much more comfortable buying a sled with 6,000 miles on it, that was well taken care of than a sled with only 500 miles that spent its life on an uncovered trailer, was washed/cleaned/greased little if any at all, and was stored out back under the ole oak tree!!!!

I like this subject. Value of our sleds? What any of us are happy with when the day comes that it's got to go. There's an up-side though. I'd bet many of us on this part of the board don't have a payment. Our sleds are too old for that. Old in a good way. Not many things out there can do what we can with relatively little investment. Considering how much a new 4 stroke sled costs, add studs at a minimum and new carbides, a turbo or a supercharger just to be able to pass a well dialed Mach Z, for the money involved they can go ahead and take me by a couple sled lengths. In the end ours will still get the envious looks and the old school reverence that only a triple deserves. Is a Mach Z 809 the only one? No, of course not. There's the Thundercat, a few of the XCR800s, and even the SRX, all max-effort triple 2 strokes that all but the most politically correct tree huggers would love to throw a leg over.

I don't care what my 97 is worth. It'd take a really high offer to get it from me. These things are like early musclecars. Yes a later model Z28 or T/A could do many things better than their big brothers before them, but there's that intagible 'something' about these that you either "get it" or you don't, and frankly many never will. If I was flush with $$$$ I'd pay close the asking price of the 1st Houle posted assuming that it checked out to be just as advertised. I'd be all in about 1/3 the cost of a new sled that most likely couldn't keep up. Just my overview if anyone gives a Schitt.

X2

X3 !!!!

Well said, guess that makes me...x4!!!

Agreed And that makes me x5!

Btw, I am one of those guys that keeps my sleds out in the yard on top of two pallets, sometimes covered by a tarp, from the time it comes home, til November to get it ready, and never had any mouse/critter issues or anything like that... Bash away if you'd like I'm also a guy that picked up a '94 Mach z 780 with 274 no-doubt-about-it-original miles on her. The windshield has minor sun-cracks in it, the seat cover's completely dried out, and it sat for years before I got to it, but everything else looks outstanding. Had a seized motor and all the original owner did with it was buzz around his small back yard when it snowed. I just think it's got frozen rings. We'll find out this winter or in the spring when i crack it open, but for now it's just hangin in the back yard.. There can be truth to some "mythical" sounding tales

Bob

My thoughts exactly ... if I ever decide I want to buy a new sled I can't see myself parting with my Mach's. Like you say it would have to be a really attractive offer as they are bought and paid for and worth more to me than most people would be willing to pay.

no way your getting $4k for that.... nice machine though