A hobby and a layoff lead to Vintage Sled Connection

EAGLE HARBOR, N.Y. – A passion for vintage snowmobiles has gone from hobby to business for a longtime enthusiast who found his niche.Mike Donnelly launched Vintage Sled Connection July 13, a choice he made after he was laid off from his job at a Rochester tool supply company. The Motorcycle Mechanics Institute grad did a course at Orleans County Micro-Enterprise Assistance Program this spring, and opened the shop to restore and repair snowmobiles, ATVs and other vehicles.Donnelly owns 10 restored snowmobiles from the late 1960s to late 1970s. ““There’s a network of people restoring and collecting, and it’s growing,” he told the Daily News. “We’re the addicts still working on them in the middle of the summer.”Vintage Sled Connection specializes in Ski-Doo, Arctic Cat and Polaris snowmobiles from the 70s, along with early- to mid-1980s Honda and Yamaha ATVs and ATCs. Donnelly already has a base of customers for general maintenance on snowmobiles and ATVs, and specialty parts and long-term restoration projects. His goal is to restore them as close to original as possible, even when it takes a treasure hunt to find the right parts.“The part is out there somewhere, within the network someone has it,” Donnelly said. “As a collector, I enjoy the rarities from a limited production or the true survivors that have lasted a long time and are still operable.” http://www.dealernews.com/dealernews/article/hobby-and-layoff-lead-vintage-sled-connection #yashta