Recently, I was reading an article about the "top motorcycle suspension manufacturers" on the planet. I forgot which magazine it was, but it wasn't a regular cycle magazine. Anyways, they had some interetsing results. In your honest opinion, without the money factor coming in, who do you feel is the best suspension manufacturer? Let's put it like this, if you had $2K to buy a rear shock, who's would you buy (and no you don't get to keep any of it if you don't spend it all, cheap bastards).
FYI: The winner in this magazines results was Paioli (?)
Paoli made stuff for Bimota and MZ.
Best suspension manufacturer?
That's a broad subject. Doesn't allow the geometry of the bike to come into play.
After you've got the geometry correct, then you can add the proper pieces. More money should get you more dampening ability. But can you do anything with it? Most people get a bit lost with the standard low speed compression and rebound dampening on a rear shock, let alone high speed compression dampening.
I use Hyperpro shocks myself, and I have to maintain the use of the stock forks for Supersport racing with Hyperpro springs and http://4and6.com internals.
Dave is correct (man, I should have a hotkey for that).
The best shock in the world won't overcome a poor chassis setup, and will not set itself up.
Spend your money with a suspension tuner who will work personally with you AT THE TRACK & AT THE SHOP for your setup.
Yeah, I know. That's why my mechanic does all my stuff. Just got all new Ohlins suspension for the Gixxer. He's an Ohlins trackside support tech ;D
As far as the original post, the magazine meant with build quality of the components themselves.