There should be a little slack in the "speed up" throttle cable. Not much, just enough that there is no tension between the 2 cables. Not sure if this could cause a problem on these bikes but, on some, it could pull the carbs up enough to cause air leaks if the manifld rubbers are dried out at all or the hose clamps are not tight.
Another thing to check, make sure the skinny wire from the right side engine cover didn't get pinched slightly. This is the one that carries the crank position signal to the ignitor.
That gets us to another possible problem. Run a search for ignition problems here. Some '02 bikes had a faulty ignition module that will be replaced as an unofficial recall. It is possible that yours happened to start going sour by coincidence. The affected VIN's are listed in a few posts, so you shouldn't have a problem searching them up.
You can test easily enough whether the AI has gone bad. Take the vacuum hose off the fitting on the left manifold and block the fitting with your finger. If the engine starts running right, the AI control valve has sprung a leak.
