It's amazing what a set of pipes and a spot of jetting can acheive, jumping between my std MC21 and the kitted MC28 they are like chalk n cheese.
Since riding the wet clutched MC21 around for the last few months I've noticed that it doesn't seem to pull from a stand still as cleanly as my SP's. I just put it down to the bike not being jetted correctly. Strange you noticed it too. Maybe the clutch is the main cause.