Hi Everyone,

Have just uncovered my late husband's BSA Sloper (1931-493cc) in his garage. Started it up no bother, but it's backfiring a bit, and not running smoothly. It starts easily, but when I try to open the air throttle (?) it starts to falter then gradually dies. I got a neighbour who's a bit handy to clean up the carburettor, but this hasn't made much of a difference. He thinks it may be a timing issue, but doesn't know how to adjust it. I obviously know nothing about it myself, but wondered if there is any helpful advice out there about how to fix this? Otherwise it's a lovely bike and in good condition.

cheers

JM

after start, have you moved the timing lever on the handle bar to the advanced position?
also, is the fuel supply from the tank fresh and flowing unrestricted?

In short there should be a long lever on the bar. If it has started ok, move this lever to its maximum position opposite to where it is now. It’ll probably go from the 9 o’clock position to 6 o’clock position or vice versa

The timing is manually controlled ...
by a lever ... to more ot less match the engines RPM .

the lever , mentioned above ... probably looks similar to the longer one of these levers
On top of the handle bars . (Not the ones on the ends)
It should have a cable attached to the Magneto ...