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I ride a '81 KZ440 that I bought as my first bike 8 months ago. I havent really had any problems with it until recently, ive been getting some backfires and some major hesitation when accelerating from a stop in 1st gear. Im also getting a little bit of a jerky studder in 1st-3rd gear. could this simply be a carb issue or something more serious than that?

First off, welcome to the forum. I'm more of an expert at making a bike look preety, but I would start with the carbs. There are many knowledgeable guys here on the forum who will chime in and help you out.

Nice to have you here!

First off, Welcome to the site.

Now then, do you have a manual? You should. Would someone please second my advice that he should get one?

For the bikes hesitation, I would start out by checking the spark plug's condition. Are they all black, tan, oily, wet, hazy, corroded, different from plug to plug or just plain missing altogether? The condition of tne plugs can give insight as to what might be going on with what ails her. There is a diagnostic page showing pictures of different kinds of plug problems with their coresponding causes. I'm sure that you could find this info on the web as well, if you have no manual.

Backfiring can mean unburned fuel in the pipes, due to weak and/or intermitent spark, or a too rich fuel mixture. It is hard to pinpoint with out more clues.

It didn't take long for me to discover that my backfiring was caused by my eating too much Mexican food.

How are your plugs?

Cheers

Get a manual.

Get some Mexican.