A couple days ago I was riding down the highway and all of a sudden when I pulled the throttle I wasn't getting anything out of it (loss of compression?) and then I noticed that I was trailing a ghost of white smoke down the damn road. There was smoke coming out the tail pipe when i started it up again after a few minutes and there was also some coming out of a lack tube running as a blow off from the what i think is the starter shaft. wtf?! i'm pretty sure some smoke from the motor was coming off it too?

did I totally trash the bike?

 

You may have holed a piston, broken a ring or blew and head gasket. Pull the plugs and do a compression test. Look at your plugs to see how they are burning. The tube you are talking about is in the front of the engine, right side? If that is it that is the breather tube. If you haven't changed the oil in awhile, do it and collect it in a clean container. If you find any aluminum it is a good indication you burnt a hole in the piston, not uncommon with ironheads. You may not have much choice except to pull the top end off.

 

Was it smoking from both pipes or just one? Did you find any metal pieces inside the tail pipe?

Do you have the factory manual 99484-85? Best to have that plus the factory parts book 99451-85A, These are for 79 to 85. The Haynes and Clymer manuals are good to have also.

Probably best to not run it any more. Just pull off the rocker covers and cylinder heads and have a look; maybe the cylinders too depending on what you see. Not a difficult job. Mostly just unbolting stuff. You do need manuals before you start, and guidance step by step as you go along.