By lifting the needle to its top spot (the lowest notch) I was able to get the bike to behave at all throttle levels. I cannot get it to function correctly at any lower needle level, so this will work. It works good, and I doubt it will get any better without finding a replacement mikuni carb. Thanks for the assistance fellas. The forum is badgering me to mark one of you as a solution (gw and Mech were very helpful). Do these mean anything? or are they just throwaway forum flavor BS? Essentially both of you helped me so why would I single someone out? It seems like a disservice to the other.
Bobbywolf's post in 1998 Big Bear running lean, real lean. was marked as the answer