1998 Polaris xcr 440 (red rocket) hard start

since you call it red rocket, we can assume it runs great after you get it started? or does she have a little bog?
i would guess its a carb issue but what, choke, pilot, needle valve...?
nows where you respond "i just cleaned the carbs"...

So this is a cold start issue? Because it starts easier if you start it daily I would suspect the choke plungers are not set right or the pilot jets are semi-plugged. Did you remove them for cleaning when you cleaned the carbs? Have you checked the float levels? It could also be chipped or broken reeds. A little trick you can do is when you shut it down when you are done riding for the day use the choke lever to kill the motor. That way you will have lots of fuel in the engine for the next day startup. I know that this doesn't fix anything but it may save you some pulling in the morning.

The bog off idle could be a number of things. It might be just an adjustment of the air screw, or wrong pilot jets, reeds, or too much belt deflection on the drive belt.

Your brake light should not be on all the time. That could be a faulty switch. Your headlight should come on dim when you pull the starter cord so you may have some electrical issues with that.

However the hard starting and the headlight/brake light are not related. The ignition and lighting circuits are two separate and independent functions of the stator.

It puts a lot of extra fuel mixture into the crank case and combustion chambers when you choke it to stop it. In other words you are flooding it. A cold engine requires a richer mixture than normal to start so this just gives it a head start so to speak. Therefore a lot less pulling for you.

not sure what carbs yours has. it will have fuel screws, air screws, or both. you want either less air, more fuel, or both. if you get down towards end of adjustments and it not enough, time for bigger pilot jets. unless yours are simply clogged from not being pulled and cleaned good.