By coincidence I bought a used Penske off of eBay and the first thing I did was have Penske take a look at it. When they told me that other than it not being for the bike the seller said it was from and that it would need quite a few changes made to fit the VFR, I knew what I already knew, that I would need to have it rebuilt to fit my application. The only reason I sent it to Penske was to confirm the shock was rebuild able as the body had some markings on it like if the shock was rubbing against something. Once Penske gave me the thumbs up, I sent it off to JD and have been enjoying its quality of performance ever since I got back and installed. I ended up putting this on my 5 Gen play bike.
As it's been said a few times, what's inside the device is more important than the device brand itself, even having the stock shock rebuilt can make a huge difference. There is nothing wrong with the Showa suspension that can't be fixed with the right amount of knowledge. Talking with JD when I had planned to revamp my 6 Gen suspension, he seemed to like and appreciate the Showa hardware but as the stock stuff isn't meant for one rider specifically, it does need to be built to suit to get the most out of it. In this case I found an OEM ABS model VFR shock and had JD rebuild it for me and it transformed the bike but mostly after I put in the fork bits he setup and sent me (Springs, valves and shims), as the f/r were more in balance. I went with the OEM shock for a few reasons, 1) I knew it would fit, 2) it has the remote preload adjuster (handy for the different weight I would placing on the bike), 3) it was totally affordable, with and without the JD additions.
In the OEM shock scenario, it is basically what CC said, paying $40 for a shock and the rest for what gets put inside. So why did I go OEM the first time and then go aftermarket on the second go round? Adjustability! Although the Showa shock does have rebound adjuster and remote preload, it does not have a compression adjuster, which the Penske does. Since the 5 Gen was going to built for pure sport riding I wanted a shock that had more adjustability. Similarly I had JD rebuild the forks and had him add in the rebound adjusters while he was at it. Yes, I could have gone all hog wild and replaced the entire front end with an entire from end from another bike, this was a budget build. Improve where I could without breaking out the credit card and making more work for myself. (i.e. Delinking the front brakes and buying all the bits and pieces that go with that build)
Long story short (oops, too late), the moral of the story, it does not matter what you buy, to get the most out of it, it takes some additional work and that should be part of your budget. The nice thing about the JD 929 shock is that it is very affordable in comparison to the other options, but will still improve your suspension greatly (at least IMO). If you're just using your bike for commuting, touring with the occasional play ride thrown in once in a while, I think the JD 929 shock would be a great option, but don't just do the rear, also change the front at the same time, you won't regret it!
As it's been said a few times, what's inside the device is more important than the device brand itself, even having the stock shock rebuilt can make a huge difference. There is nothing wrong with the Showa suspension that can't be fixed with the right amount of knowledge. Talking with JD when I had planned to revamp my 6 Gen suspension, he seemed to like and appreciate the Showa hardware but as the stock stuff isn't meant for one rider specifically, it does need to be built to suit to get the most out of it. In this case I found an OEM ABS model VFR shock and had JD rebuild it for me and it transformed the bike but mostly after I put in the fork bits he setup and sent me (Springs, valves and shims), as the f/r were more in balance. I went with the OEM shock for a few reasons, 1) I knew it would fit, 2) it has the remote preload adjuster (handy for the different weight I would placing on the bike), 3) it was totally affordable, with and without the JD additions.
In the OEM shock scenario, it is basically what CC said, paying $40 for a shock and the rest for what gets put inside. So why did I go OEM the first time and then go aftermarket on the second go round? Adjustability! Although the Showa shock does have rebound adjuster and remote preload, it does not have a compression adjuster, which the Penske does. Since the 5 Gen was going to built for pure sport riding I wanted a shock that had more adjustability. Similarly I had JD rebuild the forks and had him add in the rebound adjusters while he was at it. Yes, I could have gone all hog wild and replaced the entire front end with an entire from end from another bike, this was a budget build. Improve where I could without breaking out the credit card and making more work for myself. (i.e. Delinking the front brakes and buying all the bits and pieces that go with that build)
Long story short (oops, too late), the moral of the story, it does not matter what you buy, to get the most out of it, it takes some additional work and that should be part of your budget. The nice thing about the JD 929 shock is that it is very affordable in comparison to the other options, but will still improve your suspension greatly (at least IMO). If you're just using your bike for commuting, touring with the occasional play ride thrown in once in a while, I think the JD 929 shock would be a great option, but don't just do the rear, also change the front at the same time, you won't regret it!