Well, I think I may have figured out why I have crap for power in the mid and why it feels like it's running out of gas. As I was getting on the bike this morning, I looked over at the workbench and what did I see... the diaphragm spring from the
carb. I forgot to put it back in!!!!

So, tonight she's going to go back in.
As for the notches, yes I am counting from the blunt end. That much I learned from here already
For the 170
main, I haven't done a
WOT yet so I can't be sure where it sits. All I know is that the only black I could see on my plugs was on the threading. On the electrodes there was either no colour or a light tan-to-white colour.
I agree the stage 1's are too restrictive, they're not my standard exhaust. I'm lending the bike to a good buddy in a week while I'm in Cancun for 2 weeks. He has a sensitive ear to my Samson Rolled Thunders, so I did him a favour and slipped these back on just the other day. I plan on pulling them when I get back from Mexico in favour of my Samsons.
The plan when I get home tonight is first to put the diaphragm spring back in.

Then, still at the 5th notch I'll take her back on the road and do a proper WOT to see where my main sits. Once I know that, then I can better know what needs to be done and set the clip back at the 4th notch. I do have a 167.5
mik, so I can swap that in if the 170 is too rich.