So yesterday i removed the carb and took it apart. I tried to remove the diaphragms carefully, but without success. since it has been raining here for the last moth and because the forecast promised sun today i did not have the guts to risk screwing thing up(would have been the first ride of the season). However, i noticed that the diaphragm to the rear cylinder carb had a small area that was brown (approx 1mm i diameter) on the "piston side" and a bubble in the rubber (same size) in the same location but on the "top side". I used some rubber cement (small amount) to patch it up. Before i removed the carb from the bike i checked the fuel level in the bowls and noticed that the fuel level in the rear carb was a bit low, approximately 4mm below the mating surface. So i checked the float height with a digital caliper set to 15.8mm and one of the halves of the float was indeed touching the caliper. So i readjusted the float and put the carb back together and mounted it on the bike. I checked the fuel level and the level was pretty much spot on. The mating surface was almost perfectly in between the top and bottom of the U-shape in the tube (due to surface tension), so i guess the level is ok?
I started the bike and it sputtered much so i grabbed my colortune set and started with adjusting the rear cylinder. The mixture was rich so i adjusted the pilot screw so that the flame was blue. At this point the bike would idle better and the sputtering had stopped. So i moved on to the front cylinder and i could hardly see anything else besides the spark, i.e no flame or a very weak one, not even when pulling the throttle. I went for a ride and there was no power in the bike and a very muffled sound from the exhaust compared to before. During this process i replaced the manifolds.
My questions are the following
1. what is the best way to replace the diaphragms? i have read that you should cut away the metal ring on the top and then use superglue to hold the diaphragm in place. Another method i have read about is one where you use a small screwdriver to push the plastic ring down in order to pull the old diaphragm out. The last method is to just tear the old out and use dental floss to coax the new in

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2.could the muffled sound, and engine running on one cylinder(spark+no flame=no fuel?), be due to a vacuum leak or bad sealing between manifold and mating surface? i had a bit of trouble mounting the carb on the bike due to the new manifold not being as soft and worn out as my old ones and in all this frustration i might have forgotten to connect the vacuum line to the petcock on the right side of the fuel tank

(embarrassing if so). This could explain the lack of flame/fuel. The bike is currently at my parents house so will check this tomorrow on my way home from work.
3. upon removing the piston/diaphragm assembly i noticed a small amount of black particles in the cavity where the choke tube goes(under the diaphragms seen from the top). Is this coming from the small filters and if so can these be removed without any impact on the engine? if not, do you guys know of any suitable replacements?