Plymouth Man To Hold ‘Final’ Vintage Bike Sale
Classic bicycle enthusiasts will have an opportunity this weekend to add something new to their collection.
For 30 years, John Dempsey has fixed up old bikes and held a sale in the yard of his Plymouth home. Stepping foot into his yard brings back a feeling of nostalgia.
“It’s sort of like a mini museum here,” said Dempsey, who admitted that he loves classic bicycles.
“It’s the design. I mean, you can look at the design of these bikes and they’re made to look like motorcycles,” he said.
Dempsey has dozens of them.
Brands like Tornado and Schwinn, and others from a bygone era.
“Before Kia made cars, they made bicycles and motorcycles. So that’s a pretty rare bike,” he said, pointing at a Kia bicycle.
Rare bikes are his specialty. He and a couple buddies find them, fix them, and put them up for sale.
You can call it a passion project
“Me and my friends, we’re all bike geeks, you know, and there’s quite a few bike geeks out there,” said Dempsey.
Many of these bikes might not qualify as race-worthy, but he says you can absolutely ride every single one of them.
“I wouldn’t really go on a huge tour, like a Tour de France with a bike like this, but it’s something you can ride around your neighborhood, and your neighbors will go ‘wow look at that,'” he said, while pointing at a classic bike.
Some of the vintage bicycles on sale at John Dempsey’s Plymouth home.
An annual tradition
This is the 30th edition of Dempsey’s vintage bike sale.
He also calls it, his last.
“I’m 62 years old, so it’s getting harder and harder to put on this sale,” Dempsey said.
Of course, it’s something we’ve heard once before. CCX News last featured Dempsey’s vintage bike sale in 2004. At the time, he said it was his eighth and final year of doing the show.
Instead, it’s continued for 21 more years.
“I know I said that last time, but this is actually it. This is the last time,” Dempsey said.
If this is, in fact, the last time, visitors will have one final opportunity to get their hands on a bike you won’t find anywhere else.
Even if you don’t plan to buy, Dempsey encourages people to just roll on by to appreciate his collection.
“If you’re in the area and you want to look at some bikes from when you were growing up, you know, it’s the time to do it,” he said.
The bike sale is happening April 26-27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 17025 13th Ave. N in Plymouth.
They range in price from $40 to $1,000. They’re also selling old bike parts for $0.25 apiece.
