Bike withdrawal

My bike is off the road and I am thoroughly pissed-off.

I woke up in a good mood last weekend - it was a sunny Saturday and an early start for a two day martial arts seminar I was helping to organise. Jumped on the bike - went to pull away - and then nothing except a familiar sinking feeling. Familiar because it has happened to me twice in 30,000 miles - my drive belt had snapped. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Reading the reams of online debate about the subject it seems that the Harley world both here and in the US is divided over whether belt drive is the best thing since sliced bread or a royal pain in the arse.

I'm contemplating going over to a chain drive conversion - seemingly a retrograde step since Harley abandoned it in the late 90's. They're dirtier and require a bit more maintenance than a belt - but at least they don't mysteriously break without warning. All the custom boys seem to favour chains - there's more flexibility when it comes to tyre sizes; and in my case I'm probably overdue changing the gearing since my re-bore to 1200cc. And they do appear to be considerably cheaper.

But for the moment my bike is stuck in the shop waiting for parts and I'm just thoroughly pissed off. So sick of public transport that I am even contemplating buying a push bike.

And I so desperately need some motorcycle inspiration that I am surfing the brilliant custom Sportster site that supplied the logo above - and catching up online with US TV biker-soap Sons Of Anarchy. AAAARGH !!!!