Drained the oil after 3000 miles and seemed to have an unusally strong scent of gas. Although it was hot it was also very thin as well...is this normal for the bird? It seems to run a tad rich judging from the exhaust tips.

How many miles on the plugs?

It's a '99 model all stock with 5200 miles...I'm assuming original plugs. It runs fine with no skipping or hesitation...maybe I'm babying it too much? I plan on changing the plugs and air filter (K&N) before I get her back on the road.

I notice a faint fuel odor from my oil, I guess it depends on how strong the odor is.

Just 5200 miles on the plugs? You say it runs fine with no hesitation? Sounds like it may all be in your head. Changing the oil and filter is just fine; otherwise, stop freaking out and just ride it....

I've got a 99..... same thing, exhaust tips blackend..... nothing you can do about it. Or at least I haven't found a way to put a Power Commander III on my bike yet ......... someday maybe!

Maybe a stupid question, but why not just go with a PCII to correct your mixture issues?

I think I'll go with JRDXX's advice. I'm about to put a K&N filter in and thought I would go ahead and do the plugs while I was at it.

Well, it's my understanding , that the PCII is only a masking device.... meaning that it can only fool the ECU on the bike. Plus the PCII is very limited, you can only change the fuel/air ratio from 12:1 - 14:1 and not at specific RPM's.
I was told that the PCIII on the other hand is infinetly more variable, with RPM's and Fuel ratios, But I haven't found anybody yet that knows how to put a PCIII on a 99.