Hello and thank you already for the resources available here! I have owned my 'Hawk for 4 days now and after tightening up all the loose ends, have removed my PAIR system, enriched my idle circuit, hacked out my baffles and come to terms with a 160-180 km tank range...as well as pulled my first power wheelies ever just a few moments ago to celebrate significantly less backfiring (PAIR removed and blocked). I am coming from a 99 Shadow ACE 750 where I even went as far as advancing my timing by dremeling the pulse generator bolt holes to completely resolve the backfiring issue. That bike didn't have a PAIR or all the other crazy vacuum lines but I did similar mods otherwise ("bafflectomy", enrich idle).
Question: Has anyone attempted to advance their timing or have insight into doing so? After turning out my pilot screws...from having them completely in from factory :O...and advancing my timing my 99 Shadow stopped popping altogether. All my Honda twins have popped, spit and backfired when engine braking when I first bought them but since this is not a Shadow I'd like to pose the question before dismantling the Super Chicken in search of a pulse generator to dremel.

 

If the bike is still popping might try installing new exhaust gaskets.

http://http://www.bikebandit.com/hou.../m2912#sch1563

If the PAIR system is removed and jetting is correct (or even close) to your altitude you shouldn't be getting any popping.

 

Put that Dremel away for a while! Go though your carbs. Do your tuning the right way, if your messing with the exhaust, you need to rejet. All the bikes I've added free-flowing mufflers to needed to be rejetted to run worth a darn. Look at your plugs.

 

D and D slip-on exhaust cans (if you can find them) are awesome! They will scare the heck out of every cat and timid elder in the neighborhood and set-off car alarms far and wide.

YouTube Vid of D and D Slip-Ons on a SuperChicken

cheers,
--Professor Chaos

 

Oooh aaah, those D&D's sound lovely. Rejetting was the last thing I did to my last 2 Shadows and will be the last thing I do to this bike engine-wise for a while. By that I mean I want to do all the other tinkering or hack and slash mods first, then drop the bike off at a reputable shop for the final carb settings dialed in. This is my daily ride for at least the next few months (I've ridden bikes year round for a few years now and I live on the Canadian side of the Pacific Northwest) so I don't want to teach myself carb work at the moment either. If there's any other creative solutions to unsatisfactory stock bits and especially further backfiring reduction, lay it on.

cheers

 

I will look into this and thank you. Wouldn't be the first time.