To keep the hose from getting dangerously close to the chain and the sprocket, we put a small tab on a case cover bolt and secured the hose about 1 ½ inches away from the spinning sprocket. In our mind, this solved the problem and the shock did work as advertised: perfect!

However, Gil Vaillencourt, the owner of Works, felt that the shock was not as it should be. After some measuring, we sent the shock back to Works and within a few days, a second shock was sent to us. This one bolted right on and the hose/reservoir was the correct length to mount properly. Gil said that when a customer ordered a shock, he should be able to bolt it on with no sweat.

We took the bike for a quick ride and found out that it worked just like the first one. The action of the rear end was plush. It was so good, in fact, that you tended not to be aware of it. No jarring or harshness like the stock shock; just pure smoothness.

First, pull off the side plates	Next, remove the air box

Use a pair of tie-down straps to keep the swing-arm from dropping	Here's the new Works shock - with black spring - compared to the prototype	New shock, mounted in correct position

*Good news! Gil is taking the original shock and modifying it to be identical the one we have now, and Off-Road.com will give it away. That's right, you could win this re-conditioned (= nearly-new!) Works shock (worth $519 new) for a Yamaha TTR230. How? We'll be running a dirtbike rider survey in January. Answer a few questions about what you ride and what you WISH you could ride, and you'll be entered into the running for this great prize. Stay tuned on that!

-rs