Motorcycle Repair: poor running, open throttles, gasket surfaces

Question
i have a 1976 cb 550k honda that wont hold a steady idle. ive noticed oil leaking from what appears to be the head gasket on the number 1 cylinder.the leak is small on the cooling fins.compression test revealed 70psi and will hold it.i have also noticed a milky liquid coming from the breather hose going to the air box.when i pulled the hose off the box quite a bit came out. dont know how watwer could have gotten in there,since the bike sat all winter.it seems to run better with the hose disconnected.the bike also seems to lack power and misses at low rpm but is fine above 3000rpm.also quite a bit of smoke comes from the breather tube with the hose off.tried to buy a new gasket but the price is outragous about $70.00.is thereanything else i could use for a gasket? the bike is old and i dont want to put a lot of money into it.any advisewould be great.also i checked the oil at the dipstick it appears fine.

Answer
Carl, compression is supposed to be 175 psi with open throttles, so if yours is really 70 then you have open valves, burnt valves, bent valves or worn out/seized piston/rings.

Milky fluid (condensation water and oil vapors combined) in crankcase breather system is normal to a certain extent, but the system tubes have to be drained periodically.

Oil leaks from the head gasket are universal with most vintage Honda Fours.  Check Ebay for aftermarket gaskets like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4542038596

Put a little THREE BOND sealer around the oil passage holes in the gasket to prevent them leaking so quickly again in the future. You have to check the head and cylinder gasket surfaces for being flat before you reassemble it all. Once the head is off, you will have to pull the cylinders to check the pistons and rings, then you will probably have to replace the tensioners. If the bike has over 30k miles on it, the camchain will be worn and you have to pull the whole motor down to replace the endless chain.

Good news is if you just need to do the top end, you can leave the motor in the chassis.

Bill Silver