My 98 900r was running like crap after sitting for a while so I cleaned the carbs and it runs much better. It takes a real long time to warm up and someone told me if it takes that long it's probably running rich. Well I just noticed that there is a 1 inch long slice in the exhaust pipe in the last section. It is right underneath the bike and is opened up about an 1/8 inch. I know the carbed bikes can sometimes be stubborn but do you think that has any effect on the way it runs?

Thanks