Ran my sled lean for 2 winters because I had the air screw bass ackwards
Pulled the plugs on my 2014 Indy 600 after a ride up near Grand Rapids and they were white as paper, which finally made sense of why it kept bogging at half throttle. Turns out I had the air screw on the carbs set the wrong way, I was leaning it out instead of richening it, and I did that for two full winters thinking I was tuning it right. A guy at the gas station in Bovey looked at the plugs and just said 'you're way too hot, back those out a turn and a half' and it ran like a different machine the whole way home. I felt dumb but honestly kind of relieved it wasn't something worse with the top end. Has anyone else mixed up an air screw with a fuel screw and cooked their plugs for a season before catching it?
Laughing at the fact that the guy at the gas station in Bovey diagnosed your sled faster than two winters of you thinking you were a tuning genius. Turning an air screw the wrong way is basically the sled version of putting your boots on the wrong feet and wondering why you keep tripping all day. Honestly though, two full seasons on paper white plugs and the top end still lived is pretty lucky, those things usually let go way before you figure it out. At least you got it sorted for free by a stranger who probably just wanted to pay for his gas in peace. Live and learn lol, just glad it was a screw-up and not a rebuild.