You could read the FAQ about carburetors.
If you are building the bike for the track and peak power at red line and above that, use pods, or V stacks.
If you want a well mannered street bike that functions well and predictably at all throttle settings, use the stock air induction. For the 550, the UNI NU-4055 works well and is more economical than the stock paper type, provided you don't drive though sandstorms with frequency.
If you want to learn in excruciating detail how each of the 3 major fuel metering circuits behaves at each and every throttle position that can be set, by inferring from plug deposits what the combustion conditions were with that last carb setting change, then use pods.
Alternately, you can also pay for dyno time.
You CAN change the mains, (finding them is another matter)
You CAN change both the position and alter the taper of the slide needles (But you should have a stock of spares to modify.)
You CAN add or plug holes in the carb's emulsion tubes.
You CAN change the pilot jet.
You CAN change the main air jet size.
You CAN change the pilot air jet or adjust its contribution with the pilot screw.
You CAN change the slide cutaway angle to recover transition from pilot circuit to throttle valve. (You should have spare slides to on which to experiment.)
You might be able to ignore some of the adjustments outlined above.
Or, you might be lucky and not notice some aspect of carb operation that doesn't work as well as the stock set up.
FYI, most pods only look good on the outside. Inside is nightmare for smooth even air flow and it is placed right at the entrance of the carb.
Cheers,
