2004 800ie Backfiring during throttle opening

[jasle]

So Bike was running fine. Went to a track school day. put about 113 miles on the bike. Last lap the bike started to backfire when the throttle was opened. During the backfiring the yellow #3 fuel light flickers in time with the backfire. I thought the yellow light was for when the fuel was actually low.

pulled and checked the plugs. perfect chocolate milk color.
Noticed during the popping the right pipe shoots flames.
Basically stock except for the K&N filter and DanMoto pipes.
4785miles on the bike. so probably sat at some point. When I bought it
the fuel did NOT smell like varnish.

Any ideas?

[sofadriver]

that light flickering thing is weird!
spark plug wire arcing into a wiring harness, maybe?

[jasle]

moved the rear plug wire so it was not close to the wiring harness. light flickering went away...backfiring stayed.

incidentally checked compression as someone on another forum suggested the exhaust valves might be leaking.

Both cylinders right under 160lbs. throttle wide open, crank until needle stops rising.

[sofadriver]

Originally Posted by jasle

moved the rear plug wire so it was not close to the wiring harness. light flickering went away...backfiring stayed.

uh-oh
so there's a possibility that there was some arcing going on
hope it didn't zap your ECU

[jasle]

Sofadriver...looks like you are on both threads...
As soon as the fuel light stopped flickering when I moved the harness I did the turn off the lights trick looking for arcing. I did not see any arcing at all. I ran my hand along the plug wire hoping to get zapped...nothing. I really feel that symptom was an induction cross talk type problem that was probably muddying the diagnosis.
If it were a carb'ed bike I would say it was clogged pilot and a lean pop...other than the flames shooting out the pipes. I've also seen a bad ignition module show similar symptoms. Other bikes though. I'm a duck newbie other than doing some valves on a 900SS. Sort of wondering about a clogged injector. will pull them friday and see what the spray pattern looks like.
The tube on the heat sync under the ignition module was unplugged. but the wires for the CDI were also drooped next to the plug wire. but still I don't think you'd get enough of a kick from the plug wire unless it was actually arcing. I don't see any evidence of arcing on the wire. no cracks,pinholes or arcing while revving and idling in the dark.
I've never taken a bike to a shop and I can fix the crap out of a particle accelerator....but i just don't know fuel injection bikes. I've very knowledgeable using electronic test equipment but I don't know what to look for. Any Stator, cdi, FI testing I can do without ducati's DDS module would be helpful. Harvest classic this weekend but looks like I'm riding the Harley...