Richard, I want to retain the stock choke, and have spent a significant amount of time cleaning the exhaust port so the choke functions as designed. As far as the plate goes, its there to prevent oil from coking up on the underside of the exhaust heat chamber. This is a stock build and the plate stays, but I do appreciate the suggestions.
I agree on both counts. Especially if the heat plate is fairly clean with no deposits behind it that you can tell. For stock and very mild builds, it really doesn't pay dividends to block the exhaust cross over.
