I've had this stupid starter cover off now a thousand times hehe....
for a little more information about the issue, it did seem like it was running rich on the high side, but didn't quite have the correct sound, and I could 'lean it out' but it still wouldn't gain rpm....though occasionally it would 'get past' a certain point and make it all the way up, but still not sound exactly right. when i put the flywheel back on, I used a torque wrench as I always do and had to pull the spark plug to put the rope in there to stop the piston. the plug was wet. so clearly this was an issue of it being "too rich" but not because the mix was too rich, but because there was unburnt fuel.
2 dodgy coils.... what are the odds.... i'm gonna go toss them right now out of spite....