[mobleydrew]

It idles that high because I am forcing it too. I got to get it home somehow, when riding around in the neighborhood trouble shooting the performance. I turn the idle screw (not pilot screw) high to make it so. Youre right, the air screw does nothing above 1/3 throttle. Does little below too....which is my problem. Idles great for 20 seconds, then stalls. I restart and turn up idle ALOT in order to stay running so I dont have to keep blipping the throttle to keep it going.
Correct, idle screw is for adjusting mixture. Screwed in too far, not enough oxygen molecules to mix without fuel (rich). Too far out and too much oxygen will mix with fuel (lean). Since oxygen burns hotter then just fuel alone, it would idle high without touching the idle screw at all.
The problem is not the high idle, since I am forcing it to idle high. Problem is stalling at normal idle setting because it is NOT getting air. If I had air leaks, it would be idling high on its own without adjusting the idle. Spraying engine starter fluid all around intake boots, all over carb (both sides) and up the idle jet adjustment hole (to see if rubber o-ring is sealing properly) has no effect.
Could it be that the pilot adjusting screw is not the culprit, but the pilot jet itself is not allowing enough fuel through? Perhaps it is SOOO lean that engine is overheating, which explains why it wont restart until it cools off.

OE air filter, it looks brand new. Could the puddle of gas, that was found in the bottom of the air box, produced enough fumes to cause the air filter to deteriorate to a point where air no longer flows through it efficiently? (I think the PO left the PRI on overnight before I bought it, since the oil smelled like gas and was really thin when I changed it.)