1982 550 ltd engine longevity, just curious

hi all, i just picked up a clean 100% stock:) ltd 550 kawi, it was female owned and looks like it has been very well maintained, here's my ?, the bike has 26,456 miles on it, how long will these engine's go with care? is 26k miles alot on one of these engine's? iv heard a few horror stories of cam-chains letting go, iv had a couple 400's a 440 and another 550 and i never had any trouble with those bike's, i'll tell ya collecting these old bike's is really addicting to me

My 81 550 LTD has just a few clicks over 32,000. It's been well maintained since I've owned it (it had 14,000 on it when I bought it 4 years ago). It still runs like a top and I don't see any problems with it going for another 32,000.

The 4 cyl design that kaw used on these old KZ's is a very durable one. Your motor should be fine for a long time.

There are a couple of members with tons of miles on their bikes, I think one guy with a 650 has over 100k on the clock.

in 1986 a mechanic at a kawasaki shop took me out to the "bone yard" behind the kawasaki shop to 'show me somthing'he pointed to a 77 kz 1000 with ape hangers and really ratty cosmetics,,,then he slid the cam cover off(unbolted allready) the cams looked spotted on the lobes but not terrible..."so what" i said then he showed me the odometer...i remember him proving to me that it had over a 100,000 miles and said it ran when the owner left it and never came back,,,,that allways stuck with me...ride your bike with confidence and sometimes even change the oil...just cuase...peace

thank you for the input guy's, i took it for a short spin after work so i could top the tank off and get some air in the tire's and this old bird ran like a top, it ran a little ruff at 1st because the gal let it sit for 2-3 month but after a good 5 mile ride down the highway she came out of it, iv got it on the battery tender and going to get the oil and filter changed saturday:) .