New KZ owner in St. Louis

Hello! I'm Devon, A/V technician from St. Louis who just purchased his first motorcycle a couple weeks ago. I picked up an '81 KZ440 LTD with an '82 parts bike off a guy on Craigslist for $800. The bike ran fine just had to rebuild the front brake master cylinder and replace the rectifier to have it up to 100%.
I'm really looking forward to doing some custom work on this bike. First things being a custom seat, wider tank, and lowered suspension. Sadly my friend who I was planning on working on the bike with is going to be unavailable to assist me for a year so I may be doing more of this work solo.
So far I've ridden the bike to and from work the past 2 weeks. It's been going great. She only takes about 3 minutes to warm up and rides smoothly on the freeway. Recently, however, I've noticed the left cylinder misfiring at slower speeds and when decelerating. I'm checking the plugs tonight to see if that's the issue. The pipe on that side has been more blue then the right which is a beautiful gold right now.
I'm excited to find a community to learn from. Everyone I've talked to has had nothing but great things to say about these bikes. Thank you for being here and I look forward to talking more!

Welcome!

As far as I know, a blue pipe indicates the exhaust is overly hot which is an indication of a lean fuel mixture. First look for any air leak in the carb to head boot (plenty of tips to be found on the forum on how to do so). If the boot is sound then a plugged jet in the carburetor or a leaky diaphragm in a CV carb would be the next thing to check for.

Good luck!

Hi DBSoundman! What is the 82? I just bought my first bike, its an 82 KZ650. I've been slowly restoring it to riding condition!

@Sig The '82 is another 440 ltd. It was about 80% complete.

Just road the bike up to Iowa for my sisters college graduation. Bike ran great. Rough ride though. Doing 60-70mph with a steady 15-20 mph cross or head wind is cold and tiring! Hopefully the ride back today is a little more comfortable.

Hope you made it home with the wind at your back this time! Glad to hear you're close to the finish line on your bike! From what I've read, the early 80s were an interesting time for motorcycles. Happy to have a piece of that history!