I don't think its because it's old that it is slow. When I got my 15-91 it was super fast; too fast for my comfort and skill for FMQ. I really had to hold my hat! Hubby and I rewired and serviced the whole thing and the motor was totally sound. I took apart the foot pedal to see if I could tweak the speed. After playing around and fine tuning a few screws here and there I got it down to the speed I am happy with. It's hard to explain, really. But I will try my best. In my foot pedal,yours may be different, there is a long screw that goes through the housing with the electrical stuff. At the end of that screw there is a copper strip, which acts as the conductor for the electricity. The tighter the screw, the quicker and harder the copper strip presses on the speed control in the housing. I played around with mine live (not really recommended!) but I got it to the speed I can work with. Now it maybe a little slow for speed piecing, but I bought it primarily for FMQing. My 201-2, once I service and rewire it, will be my piecing machine.