I really like the open belt look on this particular bike, showing all the Silver. Covers are going to make it look heavy and clumsy. Personally I would have made a fairly tight fitting stainless strap over the front of the front two pulleys.. like a flat mudguard if you like. With minimal visual impact.
I think there is a good argument for leaving the belts uncovered; if a stone does get under a belt it is very likely to be spat out after the first revolution and probably only go round one pulley. However a foreign object in an enclosed cover cannot escape and could be moving at speed and ping into the belts several times.. furthermore it could well go unnoticed unless it made a lot of noise and continue to deteriorate in a damaged condition, whereas open belts are immediately inspectable and any fraying or holes will come to light very soon during one of those longing looks (don't deny it
![Wink](http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/images/smilies/wink.gif)
).
emzedder had a nasty experience when his balls dropped, and his belt tensioner bearing broke up too, which is more relevant! I know that the bearings are inside the belt loop so the balls are fed into the pulleys to some extent, but I can't help thinking that many more of them might have dropped away into space if they were not enclosed.
Happily emzedder is a very sensible chap and noticed the damage before a belt failure.
I have a vague recollection of someone conducting a test on polyurethane drive belts, when they first started to become popular.. They were feeding gravel into a Norton or Triumph belt conversion and failed to damage the belt or pulleys, just to prove a point over chains.. Cam belt is a slightly different scenario, I agree, but I think they take more punishment than we think?