I have a 2002 kawasaki vulcan 500 ltd 15k miles on it when i bought it .Run's good ,i just recently ran into some issues with it .I'm new too the motorcycle world i was wondering if someone could maybe help diagnose my issue .For some reason one of the bolts on my cycliner head becomes loose and oil will spurt out of it .Also a couple weeks ago i was riding home and i was in third gear then all of a sudden the thing.Just bogged down on me it lost power like that i was almost home . Ever since then ill be riding it and 2nd gear feels like 1st gear it doesn't seem to be getting much power even when i rev it up to speed .I have to crank the throttle all the way .Also when im riding it after a while of being on it i'll notice spurts of white smoke coming out of it .I was wondering what these things could mean ?..I want to know that way when i have a mechanic come and work on it i know what exactly is wrong with the thing .

 

Welcome to KF

First guess would be a blown head gasket. White smoke soon after the loose head bolt that seeped oil.

 

i was looking at the head gasket for this bike and the particular part is about 30 bucks .out of curiosity is a kind of do it yourself job? or do you need a professional to do it

 

Since you do not have a leak down or compression tester to verify the blown head gasket, I would have a professional perform the final diagnostic tests and then do the work.