I think I would worry more if the bike was left outside in extremes of heat or cold. If it's garaged, the belt shouldn't 'decay' as quickly. As someone on the board mentioned, there probably is an age limit to the belt, but no one has found it yet. I checked the belt on both my 2000 and most recently the 94 ABS I have in South Carolina. Both bikes' belts appear to be in excellent condition (the 00 has 26K on the odometer and the 94 has 28K). I'm in no hurry to swap out the belts, but may consider it in a few more years of ownership.
What you say makes a lot of sense. My reasoning stems from the advice that the belt should be 'inspected' at 60k. I figured that by the time I've got all the gubbins out of the way to inspect the belt, I may as well just replace the damn thing.
Also, I don't have the luxury of a garage, but I'm in the UK so apart from them dumping ultra-corrosive salt onto the roads every winter, there normally aren't the temperature extremes that you often get over in the US. I've already had to replace the alternator because of nasty corrosion issues (and had the swing arm welded up).
The water pump seems extortionate for what it is. Any info on the lifetime of this? Again I'd have thought it would lead a gentler life over here than in the US but I might be wrong.
Edit: just seen in the other thread on timing belt cost that it's possible to get a good look at the belt just by removing the valve cover end bits and turning the engine over. Think I'll do this and take it from there!
This forum's always full of useful info!
Gareth