The bike is a 1991 Honda Nighthawk with just over 180,000 miles on it. It is around 230ccs, and has a carburetor.
This is my first bike, so I don't have any idea what is typical behavior for a motorcycle. It's been running great, but there are a couple of things which I don't know how to gauge the severity of. I'm relying on this bike for my commute, so what I want find out is if this bike is safe to keep using as a commuter, or if I should stay off of it until I can take it into a shop.
There's a dead spot from rest to about ten degrees into it that's slack, and then the next five or ten degrees into the throttle seems to cut off fuel, so the engine will cut out if I linger in that region at all. This makes the bike pretty jumpy, especially in first and second gear, but it's not an issue at third and above because that area of the throttle isn't being used. I can't ease into the throttle and accelerate smoothly without working the clutch as well.
Is this a miscalibration issue, which I can solve by tightening up the cables, or is it something more serious? I have been having some issues with random stalling, but I don't think that this is related.