oh man i know lol when i got the bike...haha your gonna love this...well it was sucking air BAD...figured out the PO...ready for this?? k...he used a 2 inch hose clamp...just ONE fer boot to hold em on...so i had to hunt down 8 of the correct clamps and had a ball of a time installing them lol...then i put my bike in the shop for carb work...get it back and the clamps are over tightened and in the middle of the boot belling out the ends of em...pushing the carbs off...so yeah. i had a bunch of exp with those things lol...btw what exactly causes a head gasket to blow anyways?

 

It could also be the oil cooler. I had a similar issue with oil getting into the coolant and it was the oil cooler. There five o-rings, 1 for the cooler housing and 2 per insert. It's only like $20 from Honda. It still wouldn't hurt to do a compression test just to make sure it's not passing there too.
Funny thing, I watched this guy start up a late 90's Viper and he had major issues getting it started. Once it was started, he was giving off MAJOR white smoke on the left exhaust. I thought about saying something to him about having a possible blown head gasket, but it was amazing to watch how much white smoke he was giving off as he drove away in 90 degree heat.

 

well, now that you mention compresion test...i had that done not even a month ago when i had my carbs cleaned and synced and new plugs put in...he said compresion and spark was good...so maybe it is the oil cooler...

 

It's a lot easier and cheaper to do than a head gasket. I would still do a compression test to make sure that it hasn't given out between then and now.

 

Sounds like you should be doing your own work on your bike for sure.
Ok, first get a compression tester. Think they are around $30 (been awhile since i had to buy one). test it. cycls should be within 10% of each other.
(leak down tester will give you more info but thats a whole nother story)

Is your bike over heating?
I like the oil cooler leaking idea. If your cycls are even, no white smoke and your not overheating I would go there.

Head gasket failure is usually from overheating

 

Agreed. I would look into one if your compression test shows low compression because it can let you know whats failing.