Hi, I'm new to the forum and just bought an 06 Boulevard with only 2270 miles, so not ridden much and very quickly it has developed lurching or hesitation issues in gears one through three. It has the original petcock. I've tried high test gas and a fuel additive with no change. I've done fairly extensive reading here so far regarding the ultimate advisability of changing out the stock petcock for the Raptor, but do my symptoms sound like petcock problems? dirty carburetor / jets? I've already set up my idle and lean mixture as recommended. Thanks for your help. I'm loving my bike! It's been ten years since my last one. I've added another 1400 miles to the bike in two and a half weeks. It runs great on the highway, fourth and fifth gears. thanks Rob

Lurching shouldn't really be gear related... it should be rpm related...
if it's only in some gears,.. you are likely running in the wrong gear for that speed... ...downshift...
...

It's not on acceleration per se that the lurching happens; it's while holding the gear in a crusing speed in town (obviously since it's the lower gears that seem most affected). I've tried riding in the lower gears at different rpms to determine any differences. Very little noted. So it's not likely carb or petcock related? The response regarding this being an rpm issue makes sense. Since there's no tach I've been going by sound and feel. I've been shifting bikes for some time and believe I have it about right. Please tell me correct mph for gears one through five to double check this. Thanks for your thoughtful responses thus far. I've been wondering if the too few miles in seven years has an impact at all.

Sometimes a lean fuel mixture can cause un-even running at a light throttle steady speed. Try turning the fuel mixture screw out some.

The spacer modification/needle advice...I'm not really sure what mod this is. And I have used about two half turns on fuel mixture screw...it was already drilled out when I bought the bike. I'm afraid to make it too rich.

What position is fully seated?

All the way to the right or clockwise, correct? I turned screw couter-clockwise without even thinking about how much or little this screw had been turned before I bought the bike. So I guess it makes sense to go clockwise all the way then incrementally turn it counter-clockwise with, ultimately three turns max?

Yea, 3 is max & when ya close it, be very gentle. That thing is soft, the pointy little tip will booger up.,.fingertips on a small screwdriver.
As for what speed/what gear, if youve been riding, youll know, Its a single, torque is its game, not high rpm. If you shift up & lay on the juice & it doesnt accelerate away, youre too slow for that gear/throttle combo.
YOu can shift up at low speeds, just dont ask it to haul butt. Just like driving any standard. But, for a frame of reference, 10 MPH t 2nd, 20 to 3rd, etc. & you wont have a problem if youre just oozin along,, If youre trying to get to 60 as quick as ya can, youll do it different,