Recently I have noticed my bike backfiring when pulling in the clutch to shift gears....not all the time but most of the time. In addition to that it seems like the bike sounds different at idle, maybe a little softer. Not tons but just slightly noticable. It may also have lost a little torque but that one is hard to tell. Again it would be just a slight ammount so Im not sure if it's just my mind playing tricks on me and I'm looking for something that isnt there.

I have not added or altered anything on the bike in the last 6 months and I ride the same as I always have. I'm thinking it may be a compression issue, possibly an exhaust leak????

The only check I have done so far was to visually inspect the exhaust connection points to the muffler and at the heads, and did the hand behind the exhaust while the bike is running and it feels like the same ammout of pressure is comming from both pipes. I have not checked the codes and will do that first thing tonight. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.