Has the bike been in hibernation? How clean is your fuel supply?
The needing-choke-for-idle thing is often found to be plugged idle jets.
The idle jets have a parrallel fuel path in the carb with the main and throttle valve fuel path. The main and throttle valve fuel path doesn't usually do much at idle unless the vacuum in the carb throat is very high at idle such as when the choke is applied.
When you get around to looking at the jets, check both of them and make sure you can see light through them.
Another player in the idle fuel mix is the Idle Air bleed Screws. At least find out where they are currently set, Turn them in til they gently seat, counting the number of turns in the process. You can always set them back to where they were. And, if you end up needing a mixture adjustment for idle you can make some adjustment here.
For the home mechanic without exhaust sniffing equipment, your best window on the combustion process is the color of the deposits on the spark plug.
Also, if you do have one or more clogged idle jets, those cylinders will usually run at a different temp than the others; cooler at idle and hotter when the throttle is more opened.
So, get to work, and give us some real data to work with!
Cheers,