I had trouble with my XS 400 Special 2. I cleaned the carbs on it several times. The intake boots had nipples on them but only one was hooked up (to the fuel valve). I bought a vacuum T fitting and hooked the other in and it helped some. I also sprayed around the carbs looking for leaks and discovered seals on the ends of the throttle shafts were leaking. This made it run real lean. If you look either carb, the side that faces out has a C clip on the throttle shaft. Behind the clip is a plastic washer and behind that is a seal. I couldnt find new seals so I installed an o ring of similar size from the parts store. Made a big difference on idling. You should check the diaphrams in the carbs if it has them. They could be split or cracked. My bike also had the wrong plugs in it. It had B8ES NGKs instead of the recommended BP7ES NGK. It still backfires occasionally but it runs very strong. However I am looking for valve specs for it, because the vavle train is really noisy. For a 50 dollar bike i cant complain. I actually just repainted mine. Hope the info is helpful.