My bike starts up normally.  I'm pretty sure I hear the click of the decomp when it starts.  Can I safely rule this out as the cause of my backfire problems?

Hey, I'm back to resurrect my thread

I've looked over the wiring harness closely but not with a multimeter.  I didn't see anything that was obviously broken.  I cleaned all the connections.

I think it may just be a carburetion issue.  I went for a ride this morning while it was chilly outside (50F).  I rode normally first and had quite a bit of power loss but not really the same kind where it wouldn't fire for whole seconds at a time.  It was more like just weakness and a little popping/crackling and some hesitation.  

After that I shoved a sock around my cone air filter to reduce the air flow.  The weakness went away almost entirely and the crackling was reduced.  

Since putting new jets in is way easier than testing the entire wiring harness with a multimeter I think I'll try that first.

Right now I've got stock muffler and a cone filter.  Everything inside my carb is stock for an 86 and I've already got my mix screw out 3 to 4 turns.  Which jets should I replace and for what size?

Thanks!!!



Also: I got very little oil out when I changed it last.  How do I know what state my piston rings are in and should I even be driving it at all? I know I was pretty rough on the engine when it was running.

Hey just posting once more to let you guys know that I got everything figured out.  I found about 3 places with exposed wire and covered them up.  I also put in a bigger pilot jet.  Everything is running smoothly now.

Thanks