The conclusion...so far...
After the above post, DogBunny had me call him and after some discussion, we decided that my needles were identical to the original ones he had. I sent him a picture of my carb to make sure I had identified it correctly. I had.
I had changed the jets, but there was no difference, even running with the air cleaners off. So, I put the stock jets back in.
DB said he really didn't have any more ideas. I had cleaned, rejetted, replaced the o rings...wait...what o rings, I said.
So, he sent me a set of the little o rings that go around the emulsion tube.
I finally got around to installing them and it seems like everything is fine now. Starts easy, idle is good, plugs are not sooty.
Unbelievable. Probably been the whole problem since I got the bike three years ago.
Thanks for all the help,
Matt