i have actually been looking into this topic a lot lately and two of the biggest chunks of advice that i have stumbled upon that would have never occured to me are:
1) the altitude difference between two members can be enough for one jet size to work for one person and no the other
2) the middle two cylinders are the real problem children b/c after the engine warms up and traveling at certain speeds, they will experience different airpressures than the two outer cylinders.
i am a huge fan of the way four pods look and i do not want to compromise by running cylinders 1 & 2 to one carb with one pod and same for cylinders 3 & 4. nor do i want cylinders/carbs 1 & 2 to one filter with the same for cylinders 3 & 4. however, you may be willing to explore these options. theoretically, they should make the tuning process easier.
i am still in the "exploring the idea" phase of my project, but I plan on applying the same methodology to my running four pods project that i do to anyother project:
-research the topic to death*
-equip with the right tools
-double check everything
-drink a beer
-never surrender
ok, those last two are optional, but patience is not.
goodluck,
-g
*for research, i found this article very helpful, a little patronizing at times, but helpful none the less:
ww.aircooled.net/gnrlsite/resource/articles/jetting.htm
