Got the shocks the other day and have done a bit of riding since. The changes i think are worth it. the look was a little extra bonus i didn't necassarily expect, but they really do enhance the level of quality in looks of the bike. The differences i've noticed are of course smoothness. They change the overall feel of the bike in a nice way. Nothing drastic, but nice. The handling has changed for the better too. I find the bike seems to not only want to fall into turns nicer than it did, (used to seem to fight me when i wanted to lay it over in tight turns especially) but feels more stable. I think over time i'll come to like the performance even more too. The no tools adjustment has allowed me to stop on the side of the road and adjust them in seconds which makes it easy to dial in. I've gone from 2 turns from softest to 1-1/2 to one and finally i'm down to 1/2 turn without sacrificing handling. It allows a real smooth ride yet doesn't give you that bouncing swaying feel when cornering on rough surfaces. As for potholes and other jolting road flaws, i still can't say for sure because the few i PURPOSLY hit to see how they handled them were when i had them adjusted much stiffer than i do now. Tho they did soften them a good deal. But i think where they are set now will all but eliminate the jolts they give with the stock shocks.
Are they worth it? Compared to the cheaper 412's i can't say. But 4 bills really isn't a lot considering that you spend that much on a few cosmetic things that don't have any performance function. Yet with these you get a nice cosmetic boost along with the superior ride. For me it was worth it. Very nice shocks w/o a doubt. I ordered the ikons a while back and returned them because the chrome was chipping off the shroud and the overall quality level didn't look nearly as good as the 440's and the price was only a bit more. I'm happy with them and feel the bike's handling capabilities have been maximized.
