Today I took the carb apart and cleaned it. Talk about wow when the bike started up. I was expecting to mess it up but I didn't. This would mark the first time I ever took a carb apart and successfully put it back together. I count this as a small win and learning experience.

 

Glad it worked out well for you Joe.

 

I'd say it's a big win and you're gonna get a lot of learning experience as time goes on.

Congrats man.

Was the carb dirty?

 

Had a lot of black tarnish.

 

very good. How do your plugs look?

 

Black

 

You are running rich.

You might want to read this.
http://honda-tech.com/forced-inducti...2A%2A-3063102/

 

I know it was rich. I turned up the idle to compensate for the fact it was idling a little low and to deal with it taking for ever to warm up. However I turned it back down to deal with the backfiring.

 

Good job. You're going to have to change your user name if this keeps up.

 

Have you tried adjusting the fuel/air mixture screw?