Poor starting/running

[smokey joe]

My 78 xs1100 has developed a starting problem, it fires up on full choke and revs to about 4-5000. If i put it on half choke it dies. When running the revs drop down when changing gear sometimes and sometimes it revs to 4000. Have checked throttle cable/ok and cleaned carbs out. Am puzzled ?

[CatatonicBug]

Something tells me the carbs aren't cleaned enough. There is a jet IN the float bowl that feeds the carbs when the choke (enricher) is pulled. Also, the pilot jets have a lot of tiny holes that collect gunk, and will cause that kind of issue. Be sure you remove the jets and clean them out as well. Make sure the whole system is clean, and it will run much better.

[SFerinTEXAS]

Have you done a correct sync? One carb out of sync will pull the rest way up.