KZ650B1 Poor Throttle Response/power

Hey all, I have a 1977 KZ650B1 that I have been working on for awhile and got it running to what I thought what was a pretty good state. I recently got a 1979 KZ650C3 and noticed a vast difference in throttle response and smoothness/power. The 79 feels much better than the 77 which surprised me after putting so much work into tuning the 77. The 77 is running pods on stock carbs, 110 mains, stock pilots, needle clip one down from stock, vance and hines exhaust, dyna coils, dyna ignition system, m.unit, perfect valve clearances, balanced carbs, and adjustment screws 1.5 turns out. It feels like it makes much less power and doesn't rev as quickly as the 79 but I can't seem to figure out the reason! The 79 is stock except for a vance and hines exhaust and hondaman points. Could it be the plugged vacuum ports in the carb bodies? Or could using carbs instead of a stock airbox make that much of a difference?

With pods you should use air corrector jets.
www.kzrider.com/forum/23-for-sale/611992...-round-slide-mikunis
Leave all other carb settings stock and a couple of sizes up on the mains.
That may not be your only issue but it will never run right on pods without the air jets.
Do you have a pic of the plugged ports ?
The ones in the carb bodies should be float breathers and open to the atmosphere.
The vac ports should be on the carb intake rubbers.
I would also check that your valve timing isn't a tooth out and the pods must be good quality K&N etc as cheap Chinese Emgo/Moxi etc are often more restrictive than the airbox and will strangle the motor.

Trying to duplicate airbox performance using pods is not an easy task. Ed