TOPIC:

I am not sure what's wrong here. The bike runs great at lower speeds around town but when you give it a good amount of throttle it goes but it feels like it's lugging a bit. The valves are all set, carbs have been synced, air filter is clean. The timing is my possible concern. When I set it with the light the plate is turned almost all the the way in one direction however with it this way it has no top end but great idle. Set it back to halfway and it runs decent. Get it any farther back and the top end is magnificent but is really rich low end.
What do I need to look for to fix this issue?

make sure the advancer isnt stuck

No it's not stuck. I have thought about replacing it though since I have 70,000 miles. I am also told that it's not really an advancer despite that it does the same thing. It is, on my bike, known as a governor/breaker.
Do you think this could be the cause?

if changing the timing makes a difference at different rpms then thats the first place i would go

Do you think it's running too lean to drive around? Or any other damage could occur?

youd have to check the spark plugs to see if its to lean and being a 98 id think the timing shouldnt be adjustable isnt it computer controlled? i just noticed the 98 cop bike in the sig line

The timing seems to throw everyone off on this bike. It has the governor/breaker which on the end has a magnet with a point. It has the magneto pickups that go to the ignitor box. The governor/breaker works just like an advancer. The plate that the magneto is on is adjustable. However, once properly set it should never need adjusting again. It was not set when I got it and I don't seem to be able to get it there. I think I will go ahead and replace the governor/breaker but I'm not totally sure that's the problem and I hate to spend that much money when I don't have to.

if it moves freely i wouldnt replace it

I've said this a number of times but if you described it properly, you have an advance mechanism problem. The springs are sacked out, allowing it to be partially advanced at idle. Then when you try to set it on the f mark at idle being already partially advanced then it won't advance far enough to go all the way to full advance. Replace the advance mechanism......mod

hadnt thought of that but that makes a lot of sense

That's what I was thinking could happen. I will order a new one Tuesday. Thanks modprod.

It was mentioned before that these can stick too but at any rate the problem is because of the operation of that unit.....mod