I wanted to post a follow-up on this, just for the sake of the knowledge base.
It's truly amazing what a thorough carb cleaning can do, even on a bike that you may think has "clean carbs". I pulled the rack shortly after this post was started, and I didn't get the opportunity to clean them for a week or so. I took my time, utilized a multi-tray organizer for the parts, and used a combination of Berryman's Carb Cleaner, compressed air, and good old fashioned elbow grease. As stated earlier, even a "clean" set of carbs can have some hidden gems that will make a bike run like shit.
After reassembly, I was amazed when the bike fired right up on the first bump of the starter button. Albeit this bike has always run great, the driveability problems had really rattled me, and I got way too worked up over something that a simple carb cleaning resolved easily. Now the bike runs better cold, warms up quicker, and has a noticable increase in throttle response that I already thought was awesome to begin with (before the recent issues).
It's probably one of those things that you should do every season, just for peace of mind. I've been out of the motorcycle scene for a while, so maybe you guys already knew that.
Anyways, I really appreciate you guys (especially Wired George) for being paitent with me in my moment of stupidity. I should have just did the job before asking the question.
Thankfully, today I got a few hours of ride time - maybe the last before she goes up for sale. I'm gonna miss the girl.
Thanks again guys.
