OK, did the old hand calibration with a H1 and H2 front against a good OE front shock. H1 is stiffer than H2, and the OE is stiffer than H1. So the H1 is close, but noticably less stiff than stock. But for the money, its the closest thing to stock I have tried to date. Maybe the VX would behave better with a full set of the H1's on it, but I can tell a slight difference in stiffness while driving (a little more bounce out of the H1 side), plus the simple jounce test shows a difference, the stock shock settles after one bounce, the H1 maybe 1.5.
Not sure what I'm gonna do now, I just might shell out the $$$ for a OE front and hope all the others last for some time.