I bought a used motorcycle from a guy who bought it new in 2001 and only put 1247 miles on it since. I got it home and took it for a ride, about 30 minutes into it, it died and would not start. I took it in to get the carbs jetted for my altitude hoping that would fix it. I got it back, operated it for about 60 minutes total and now it sputters, backfires, and dies. Sometime takes a long time to get it to turn over again. Could the problem be sediment from old fuel? They found some fine gold like powder or sand in the fuel system before, could there have been more in there that just took a while to clog the jets back up? What should I do? Any ideas. Thanks for any info.

Try flushing the tank and lines carb. That should take care of the problem if it's getting clogged.

In addition, install an inline fuel filter.
If tank is rusty, they used to have a product, Called "Creme" I think, that coats the tank.
Carb may still be gummed up.

This MAY be Better:
US STANDARD TANK SEALER-POR-15 Inc.

So are you saying that the fuel in the tank could be several years old? Follow all the advice above, flush tank, dump fuel, install filer, clean out carb bowel and needle.