Exhaust leak symptoms

I have been working on getting my buddy's kz1000 up and running good for him. The exhaust doesnt seal very well at all, and when bolted up it barely sits an inch or two off of the ground. It seems as if it were not even meant for this bike. He ordered a sidewinder, but in the meantime i was wondering how a bad exhaust leak would effect performance. It leaks pretty badly and sounds like a loud flap when riding. As for how the bike runs, it will run good when giving it just a little throttle, but there is a big spot throughtout the rpm range where it just stutters badly, and begins running better up top. Would the exhaust leak be causing this problem, or is it most likely the carbs?

most of the problems your suffering are related to carb's the exhaust can have an effect on the way the bike performs for sure but most the problems will be carb related.

the petcock on this bike is a dual outlet, while there is only one fuel inlet on these carbs. Will one outlet feed these carbs efficiently? Also, the 3 nipples on the sides of each carb body, are they just overflows?

As for how the bike runs, it will run good when giving it just a little throttle, but there is a big spot throughtout the rpm range where it just stutters badly, and begins running better up top.

I Have to agree with timeomb33, this sounds carb related. I had an exhaust leak, and it was just loud and annoying. When fixed, it did give me a very small boost in power though...

there is only one fuel inlet on these carbs. Will one outlet feed these carbs efficiently?

Yeah, it should if your tank is venting ok. If not then you can always get a T adapter...

Cheers, goodluck.