If you bought a 38mm A/S, the stock needle is not setup for our engines. It just a generic starting point. In fact, the stock needle isn't smoother, it's worse than other choices. It doesn't fit the curve for our engines well at all. Do a little testing. It doesn't take much effort to try another needle. Throw it in and run it around and see what you think. You will know pretty quickly if for some reason it is too lean, but I doubt it. If anything, I think you will notice a better running engine through the midrange with the dgh. Atleast I know I did, very noticeable.
Here is how the needle chart goes.
http://www.jetsrus.com/a_jets_by_carburetor_type/needle_keihin_N427-48.htmlAlso, take a read of Duncan Racing's write up. This will help as well.
http://www.duncanracing.com/TechCenter/TechCenterMain.phtml click on the technical documents tab and then click on 2 stroke keihin jetting manual.
There are a couple needle that most have found to work the best for most 250R engines. The DGH is one of them. Yes, every engine is a bit different but this gets you in the ballpark. The stock needle didn't work with a crap in my 38 A/S. Hope this helps.