Replacement rear shock ?

My 1985 R80 ( almost naked)

I am planning to replace the rear mono shock on my 1985 R80, I figure at its age it has lived a good life so i am looking at replacements.

I talked with some real nice folks who can provide me with a custom shock built to my specifications, rider weight and stubby leg inseam.
Their price is around $650.00 , hard on my budget to say the least.

Another shop is quoting me a $400.00 price for a YSS shock. It is a pretty much standard unit just a bit shorter than OEM length.
Better price, but would I be getting much for my money ?

I plan to ride this bike for a while yet and am looking for comfort ( emphasis on comfort) as well as at least better than OEM handling and some adjustability.

Anyone out there have any experience with the YSS brand ?
I looked at Hagons, and some other brands , they are all fairly close in price to the YSS brand.

Thanks, Doug

I have a YSS on order for my Monoshock from EPM Performance Imports. The guy I spoke with, Klaus, was very knowledgeable, and seems to be highly regarded in the various forums, as he used to be the Wilber's distributor.

Just noticed that the cafe build thread just mentioned ordering the YSS also.

Yes I read that Shawn and Balkowitz had a set for their cafe' project.
Never heard of YSS until a couple of weeks ago.

I'm just looking at as much comfort ,at a low price as i can get for my 68 year old bones.

When I was looking at options to replace the shock on my R100R paralever, not that different to the monolever set up, around this time last year Klaus Huenecke at EPM Performance Imports told me that they could rebuild my stock unit. While the paralever item is normally it is considered non-rebuildable because it does not have a gas fill valve, Klaus said that they had developed a way to add a valve and rebuild the shock. The price I was quoted for the first rebuild, including non-recurring engineering, was $259.00 including seals and oil. Later rebuilds would be much cheaper. I ended up going a more expensive route, but it seems like a call or email to EPM Performance Imports might be worthwhile to see if rebuilding your stock item is a lower cost budget alternative to an all-new option - after all the monolever shock is simpler than the gas-filled paralever type: http://www.epmperf.com/.

Thanks, I sent them an e mail

I purchased a Works shock for about that price 4-5 years ago, and noticed a huge difference in performance. The bike rode so much better. I think it had more to do with an old worn out shock being replaced by a new one. I think you are making the right choice in replacing the shock. Anyway. I'm very happy with the Works shock. There are some out there for more $$$ and some for less $$$, but I can't comment on any of those.