White John Deere Bicycle

Sandy

Although Deere only made less than 200,000 bikes in total, there are extremely few collectors. Therefore, the prices are quite low. I've heard stories about the bikes going very high, but based on my personal experience and viewing prices on eBay, I've never seen them sell for very much.

Deere & Co. sold the white racer only in 1975. It is a 21" or 23" standard diamond style frame; 27 1/4" gumwall tires, maeda 5 speed free wheel on the rear hub. The chain wheel sprocket is either 40 or 50 tooth and the derailleurs are rear: SunTourGT, front SunTour Spirit with dual stem shifter. The caliper is center pull brakes with turned down cloth wrapped handlebars.

What is it worth? For JD bikes, color, condition and number of original parts. It should be white with a silver John Deere headbadge with a tan saddle and handlebar wraps as well as front and rear reflectors on the frame. Also, there should be 3 labels on the downtube, "Made in Taiwan", one specifying the type of bike, another with bike specs.

The serial number should be between

for 21" 10 speed frame starts at 2400000
ends at 2454598

for the 23" 10 speed frame starts at 1500000
ends at 1507466

Although this is the most rare of the all the JD bikes, for some reason, the white colors have the least sales value (the universal and the racer). If the bike is in mint condition, it would sell for approximately $750. My rule of thumb is to knock off about $50 per item that needs replacing or is missing: headbadge, wraps, or seat. If the bike has serious rust and requires repainting, then it goes down significantly in value because the labels cannot be purchased. If its bad enough it requires removing the labels, then all you have is a frame that can be partially restored, so its worth about $100 if all parts there. Some standard parts, e.g., chain, tires, etc., are available commercially, anything JD specific is not sold any more. If you need any parts, etc., let me know, I have a number around the house for the racers.