It could if it was way out of adjustment. I imagine that if there was something wrong with that carb, you won't be able to get it adjusted correctly.

 

Perfect thanks for the help, now I need to find someone with a carb balancing tool

 

If you are serious about owning a carbed bike, buy one. You will need it.

 

OK cool I'll look for one. How often do carburetors need synchronising then?

 

If you own the tool, you can do it very frequently and keep her dialed in.

Otherwise, every time you do carb work it should be done.

 

Cool thanks for the help. Going to have to go off and try to source a tool now then

 

AH Oh so someone has mentioned to me that before I go for the carb sync I should be checking the valve clearances, else I'll be chasing my tail. Is that sound advice?

 

Sure it is.
Do the compression test too.

 

Syncing would help with power and maybe get rid of some of that backfire. I agree that you should get the compression checked. With to much air or fuel it will run horribly. It may even stall or just plain refuse to run. Like another post I read the right fuel, compression and spark are what's needed to run the bike. Hope I helped you.

 

Since i just downed and destroyed my bike, and will be upgrading ill sell you a good sync tool for cheap, its a motion pro, let me know. I went through a similar issue trying to dial my bike in perfectly and my issue was overjetting and syncing, the sync made a world of difference but mostly at idle and up to about 4k so if thats your problem zone look hard at the sync. Good luck

Edit: just realised your in the uk, probably dont want to ship it over the pond, what are your needle and screws set to? Do you have a jet kit? Sounds like maybe you forgot to adjust that one cylinder, too lean or too rich compared to the other cylinders could cause it to not fire at full power, if its sparking and getting some fuel i would assume an incorrect mixture in that cylinder, seems more likely than a compression leak, are you mixing any fluids?