Bike idling funky and weird popping sound..

So I was out riding today and it starting idling weird... like it wanted to die, then it would pulse back up to normal.... but it runs normal when above idle... then I was riding and slowing down and this weird pop came about... just once... and it wasn't from the exhaust... it was from the motor/carb area... not real loud... like someone popping a bag full of air. And it did it once... I put new plugs in yesterday, but never gapped them... could that be it? What should the gap be on these? Also I pulled the #4 plug that was new... and the tip is all carbon black looking... what do I do there? Is that a sign of too rich combined with all the other stuff?

 

Eanf, I hesitate to ask but have you purchased a maintenance manual for your bike yet? If not, it should be the first thing you purchase after buying the bike. It will tell you how to go through the machine and set everything to get it running right.
Sooty plugs and an airbox backfire indicate an over-rich mixture. Properly gapping your spark plugs (0.032 to 0.28 in.) will help quite a bit.
Do you know what condition your carbs are in? Are the correct jets in them?
You need to baseline this thing which will eliminate you chasing problems that could be very simple misadjustments.

 

I know I need the book. I just can't afford it now. I had to pay $400 at lunch to get my car out of impound. Stupid license branch workers fault. I'll check the plugs gap. They are very black and sooty. and the exhaust pipes blow a black smoke after i rev it high.

Do you have a picture of what a good tuned air/fuel mix plug looks like?

 

Search for Plug Chops, you will find a bunch of photos and good info on how to check performance of your engine.

 

sweet! First thing when i get home!

 

In general, TAN.

 

so they were dark dark black... sooty and all... I leaned the carbs all the way out. and still black. So I got the idea to go to a hotter plug. swapped out. and now it runs just fine. actually better than I ever thought it would. then I plug chopped er and pulled the plugs (hotter plugs) and its fine. nice dark chocolate brown.