Glowing header?

[Colt97]

I have a 2003 wr450. I got it about a month ago and ran about 2 takes of regular (87 octane gas) in it and it seemed to bog on heavy acceleration and pop/backfire on deceleration. Today I tried supreme (91 octane) gas in it and it seems to not bog nearly as much and it seems to have more power without the backfire/pop on decelration. When I got home from about half an hour of riding (not hard but I was ripping up and down the road and fields and doing a couple small wheelies (trying to learn anyway)) my header was glowing hot. Is this normal or is my bike running too lean and hot? I looked at my spark plug yesterday and it was a light tan Color which I thought meant it was running at optimal condition? Am I wrong about that?

Edited November 2, 2015 by Colt97

[still2smokin]

ALWAYS RUN PREMIUM .....92 and up octane .

 

Sitting still while Idling for a few min it is normal for the pipe to glow .

 

My bike runs perfect and still has the decal pop at certain elevations , have read that it means it is lean

on the Pilot circuit .  I wouldn't worry about decal pop .

 

What jetting and elevation are you running ?

[RiderDeAzul]

This was actually happening to my raptor 700 last night, kind of freaked me out, but it only did it to me when I left it idle too long... I have heard of the 450s doing this too, but generally only when moving really slowly or idling. Usually the cause of this is not enough air flow, you might be jetted too lean, maybe post a picture of the spark plug?

[FORMA MOTO]

Full daylight you should see no glow.

 

If you are still jetted stock, you are lean...........

 

Read the FAQ section.

[Colt97]

ALWAYS RUN PREMIUM .....92 and up octane .

Sitting still while Idling for a few min it is normal for the pipe to glow .

My bike runs perfect and still has the decal pop at certain elevations , have read that it means it is lean

on the Pilot circuit . I wouldn't worry about decal pop .

What jetting and elevation are you running ?

Here in canada the highest grade fuel we can get at an ordinary service station is 91 octane.

My elevation is about 598.30 m (1,962.93 ft) and as far as I know the bike is completely stock everything except the muffler has been gutted.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Colt97