Carb Problems...
Even if the choke pull off and everything else about the carb is perfect you'll never get "crank and go" performance like fuel injection provides.
I agree that 4 bucks a gallon hurts but warm up period is nature of the beast when carborated.
What ? I have a Demon race 650 dp with no choke and stock jetting, my "warm up" is 20-30 seconds at 2500 rpms, then its good to go. Sure it idles rough in gear while backing out out the driveway but it doesn't stall.
A few things I have learned over the many years I had carb cars. 1 the intake needs a prefect seal, need to use brake cleaner to clean the gasket surface and then use a sealer like Indian Head-no RTV around the ports.
2nd, a strong spark box helps out big time. When I upgraded my MSD 6 to a MSD 7al box, the first thing I notice was a stronger idle in gear when the motor was cold.
3rd, on Holleys and Demon carb, the idle feeds in the metering blocks-IFR's some times need to be opened up, my are at .034-stock was .029.
My T.C. is stock-a high stall converter is a big help but hurts mileage and with my 3.91 gears, the motor seems to take off pretty well.
I am also using NGK racing plugs-non resistor-cost $2.50 a piece at Summit, and your plug wires and dist cap need to be the best or close to it.
But-at least with a Holley type carb, I see no need for a choke or more than a 1 min. warm up-1 min is in winter.
My intake I left the exhaust heat open, it still doesn't run just prefect for 3-5 mins, thats why the intake I leave the exhaust heat open. Tried it closed, it takes 15 mins to warm up and the plugs are still dirty. Then the next morning the dirty plugs making warm up even more of a bear.
I would not close the exhaust heat up unless it was a race motor only-where I clean the plugs all the time and never run the motor when its cold outside.