Motorcycle Repair: 1987 Suzuki Savage, suzuki savage, rapid acceleration

Question
my 1987 suzuki savage is new to me.  i am also new to motorcycles and riding.  it currently backfires when i turn off the motor and occasionally loses speed during normal riding conditions.  i also believe it idles to low.  i have a clymers manual and have tried to make adjustments to the float as well as the idle adjustment screw and throttle cable.  from this i've been able to decrease the seriousness of the backfire but continue to have the stalling problem.  a recent ride went fine until i was almost home.  i had been giving it gas (rapid acceleration and deceleration) just to play around and see how she reacted when i finally came to a stop sign it just died and wouldn't restart.  did i flood the engine?  so my questions are 1)can you give suggested diagnosis from what i've told you? 2)what is ignition timing and how can i adjust it? from my manual, all potential problems i'm having can be traced back to this as a possibility. 3)aside from the float adjustment, how can i adjust the fuel mixture to the proper level?  thanks in advance from the novice.
chris

Answer
Chris,

-Check for spark, try a new spark plug.
-Make sure battery cables
are tight. Ignition timing is not
adjustable on electronic ignition for
the most part. A faulty ignition pulser
or main module can be trouble.
-Backfire usually means a lean fuel mixture,
-Check your fuel valve and if you have one
the fuel filter. You need a good flow of fuel
to the carb. You may have a plugged float
valve or main jet in the carb.
It sounds like you may just have a lack of fuel,
I would just make sure you have fresh gas,
fuel getting to the carb, carb is clean.
Float fuel level is checked at the point
the float just closes the float needle valve,
The inches or mm should be listed in your manual.
Measure from the bottom of the float
to the carb body.
Mixture adjustment are done with
idle screw, raising/lowering the slide needle,
and different main jet sizes.
The spark plug can tell you if you are
running rich=black, lean=whitish, tan color= okay.
If the bike was running and you have spark at the plug, your ignition is likely okay.