Motorcycle Repair: is this a problem?, metal shavings, rtv silicone

Question
my motorcycle (cb350. yeah, it's me again) was running good until the right cylender mysteriously died. after much confusion i deceded that the carb was clogged somehow. so i took both of them apart and cleaned them with compressed air. and i noticed in both carbs on the slider thing (connected to the diaphram) there was... dirt? dust, metal shavings... couldn't quite tell. so i cleaned those and put eveything back together, sync'd the cabs and so forth. now both cylenters run, but when i would "floor" the throttle, the engine would either sputter for a few seconds or die. but when i eased it up to the same point there was no problem. i noticed as i put the carbs back that the right boot(?) (rubber connecting the carb to the cylender head) was cracked pretty bad. would that be the cause of the engine problems? if so, is there a quick and dirty fix i can do until i can get new boots?
thanks for your help.
Nick

Answer
Nick, be sure that those diaphragms are not torn or have any pinholes, otherwise they will never work properly. Be sure that you aren't getting dirt/rust coming from the tank through the petcock and down the carbs, too.

The rubber boot is part of the air filter on 350s, I believe. If you can clean the rubber up with some alcohol to get the gas and dirt off the boot, you should be able to patch it up with black oil-resistant RTV silicone sealer available at most any auto parts store.

Bill Silver