welp that wasn't it. switched to another carb boot.
i've set float height (16mm on pwk?), cleaned airfilter, changed spark plug*2, checked carb, checked reeds (i flipped them around to make sure they were sealing - they did not look perfect.....)
it is very hard to start, i can bump it, it'll run for a second and die..
i'm going in the electrical direction. maybe it was more of a loss of spark at wot. woohoo. at least i have a spare coil/cdi/stator.. i'll check kill switch first.