That's usually a sign of dirty carbs - clogs in the idle jet specifically. "Laying on the throttle" gets the carb past the point where it's relying on the low speed (idle) jet to supply most of the fuel.
When you shift into gear the extra load (demand) from the engine for gas is more than can get by. This problem will only get worse as time goes on and the only sure way to solve it is to pull the carbs, disassemble them and clean them thoroughly. And since it's approaching 20 years old, if they have never been rebuilt, now would be a good time.
***Dirty carbs cause more piston failures and toasted cylinders than almost all other causes combined. It really is worth fixing the problem before it turns your motor into scrap metal.