Motorcycle Repair: Backfiring, piston rings, honda cbr

Question
I have a 1994 Honda CBR 600F2. I bought it used and have had some problems with it. 1)I have to recharge the battery almost weekly, I feel as though the alternator is not working. Any way to check? Is it the same as a car? Should it run after disconnecting the battery? 2) Plugs are fowling after 4 days. Appears to be light coat of oil... Slight smokeing on startup (I am assuming it's piston rings or valves) 3)When increasing throttle to approx 1/3 it begins to backfire. Did not have the last two problems until moving here to Kentucky from Hawaii. Could elevation be a problem? It is a great bike!I am not sure I could do it myself, but am not sure it's worth dropping $1300 to a shop to replace rings or valves. Thank you for any information...

Answer
Hi Casey,

1)I have to recharge the battery almost weekly, I feel as though the alternator is not working. Any way to check?

Answer: Yes. Do an output test at the battery.

Is it the same as a car? Should it run after disconnecting the battery?

Answer: Needs battery connected at all times or electronics may be damaged (modern cars are this way, too).


2) Plugs are fowling after 4 days. Appears to be light coat of oil... Slight smokeing on startup (I am assuming it's piston rings or valves)

Answer: What color is the smoke? Black=fuel/overly rich, white=burning oil. The problem may not be the cylinders. Perform a cylinder compression and leak-down teck to learn condition of cylinder/pistons/rings/valves.

3)When increasing throttle to approx 1/3 it begins to backfire. Did not have the last two problems until moving here to Kentucky from Hawaii. Could elevation be a problem?

Answer: I think Hawaii is closer to sea level than Kentucky. You in the KY Apalacian Mountains? I live in Dayton, Ohio which is about 750' above sea level, and this is the "Miami Valley."

I suspect some carb tuning will clear up the problem. Did tghe problems exist in Hawaii. And why the hell did you move back to KY? :)

Send me your eamil address and I'll return repair information files on all topics above. Send to my email: mshively1@woh.rr.com

Respectfully,
Mark Shively