Carb Setting and Adjustment

Okay, I managed to take the KZ-1000 out for an all too brief ride today. It hit 50 degrees for the first time in what seems like an eternity so off I went. Anyway the bike runs pretty good, except sometimes when taking off or making a tight turn. It seems to stumble a bit before it will "go". I wasn't getting on the gas hard, just normal stuff. Otherwise the bike ran really well for the most part, but I never really got on it with all the junk on the road surface. When I got home I pulled the plugs to look at them and cylinders 1 and 2 were pretty sooty. Cylinder 3 and 4 looked really good to my eyes. So in my estimation, cylinders 1 and 2 are running rich and I should lean them out a bit by turning the fuel mix screw in a bit correct? Should I leave 3 and 4 alone? The picture below shows two plugs and they are representative of the other two. Thanks for any suggestions. Now I can put the bike in dry dock for a couple of months again.
Rick H.

Soot on the base ring means you are running rich so maybe lean off the pilots on those cylinders.
Although being 1 and 2 it may be due to wet cylinders if the bike has been garaged on the side stand and fuel has weeped into those cylinders while standing which is common .
The stumble may just be from fluffed plugs because of this and you may just need to give it a longer run to burn off the excess and clear the plugs.
Ground strap looks good for the heat range though.
Are you running the airbox.

Yep, running stock air box with silencer. Thank you!
Rick H.

I think turning them in (clockwise) makes them richer and turning them out makes them leaner.

Hardrockminer is correct. Think of them as a tube allowing air in. Screwing them in blocks the tube and richens the fuel air mixture. Turning them out opens the tube and lets more air in leaning the mixture.

Not to doubt what anyone has said, but just so we are on the same page, the adjustment screws on my carbs are on the bottom, not the side. So turning them in richens the mixture and turning the out leans the mixture. I had this 180 degrees off if that's the case. Thank you one and all for the help.
Rick H.

Rick H. wrote: Not to doubt what anyone has said, but just so we are on the same page, the adjustment screws on my carbs are on the bottom, not the side. So turning them in richens the mixture and turning the out leans the mixture. I had this 180 degrees off if that's the case. Thank you one and all for the help.
Rick H.

Rick!

The ones underneath control pilot FUEL and turning them in closes the orifice from the pilot and leans the mixture and out opens the orifice to richen… So you were correct...

The side ones control pilot AIR and it's out to let in more air and lean off the mix and screw in the reduce the air and richen..

Thank you Zed1015. I thought I had lost my mind, what little is left. Just for the record, I believe I have the VM26SS carbs on my KZ.
Rick H.

Rick H. wrote: Thank you Zed1015. I thought I had lost my mind, what little is left. Just for the record, I believe I have the VM26SS carbs on my KZ.
Rick H.

Yes! They will be.

Apologies Rick. I thought you had fuel/air screws.

No apology necessary Hardrockminer. You have helped me out on a bunch of stuff before and I was 99.9% sure of the answer to my question, but couldn't find it in my books.
Rick H.