Motorcycle Repair: 81 gl1100 smoking, mosquito fogger, head gasket failure

Question
I was riding along ever thing fine then POOF! A whole lot of smoke and now its smoking like a mosquito fogger.  What exactly has blown and how difficult is it to fix?

Answer
If it's blue smoke, you have a serious problem in one of the cylinders and it burning oil.  If it's a white vapor and disappears, it's probably a coolant leak indicating you have a head gasket failure.  From the sounds of your description, I'd bet a ring or piston problem and it will take an overhaul to fix.  A quick compression check will tell you which cylinder is the problem and a check of the plug will tell you if it oil or coolant. If it's burning oil, it will require pulling the engine and splitting the cases.  Make sure the oil level isn't overfull before going too far.

Regards
Rich