99 Nomad starved for fuel?

[TexasRich]

Hi gang. Been using the forum for a bit now as I work on a 1999 Vulcan Nomad that I picked up last week. Here is the background and the issue:

I bought this from a guy who took it as a trade for his services 4 years ago. He let it set up inside his garage for the last 3 years or so. I have flushed the fuel tank out, replaced the petcock, fuel filter and cleaned the carb out 3 times to try and get everything out. Changed all fluids and spark plugs. New air filter element as well.

It will start up right away and warm up quickly. When I take off, there is a bog/hesitation then it catches and runs ok. But there is no top end at the end of each gear. Not sure of the rpms, but it’s not terribly high. I can get to about 50 in fourth gear and it starts to sputter and hesitate, as if starved for fuel.

The last time I cleaned the carb, I tried adjusting the air/fuel screw on the bottom of the carb. It was originally set at 2 1/2 turns out and I adjusted it progressively out to 3 1/4 but there was no change. Have returned it to 2 1/2. Replaced the fuel filter again in case it was blocked and removed and checked the petcock to see if it was blocked. It was not, but I flushed it out anyway.

Any ideas? Sorry for the longish post, but I figured the more info the better.
I feel like I’m missing something simple, but not seeing it.