I did this to my new '07, and while it's nice to be able to adjust the shock some, for the 60$ + shipping I paid for the '04 500 shock, I think if I did it again I'd spend that money on gear or something else instead. For my weight (#220) it didn't seem to make THAT much of a difference compared to a new 250 shock. Perhaps if the 250 was a few more years old the diff.would be more dramatic. Dunnno.

I've heard others using a SV650 shock, but how much 'modifying' it takes is unclear. Good luck.