took everything apart again tonight...verified the weight of the floats, removed every single component: jets, atomizer, choke, needle/seat, and filter screen.
set need to second from the bottom, which I believe is the factory setting for sea level(D36 needle has 4 positions) and started with 3 turns out on the fuel screw....bike started up like normal. had a deeper tone to the exhaust and it actually felt like it had a little more grunt off idle. smoking seems to be about the same so as long as it appears to run normal, I am just going to ride and enjoy it and just realize that I won't be able to do any of the 12 mile trail loops in our area on the bike unless I get a larger tank. if I start fouling plugs relatively easily then I will revisit this issue....cheers and thanks everyone for the tips