Here is the bike Kent Howerton won the 1980 250 title on, he did try the KYB airshocks but sounds like he preferred the Ohlins.
Kent Howerton's comments: We didn't get this bike until right before Hangtown, and we didn't have much time to set it up. During the first couple of races, I had trouble with the front forks. They were too harsh and this gave me trouble in the corners. To compensate for this I used the low end torque cylinders and pipes. This helped until we got the front end working good and then I switched to the mid-top end set up. The rear end was real good especially with the Ohlins shocks. The bike had a real good geometry to it. It was well balanced and the handling was excellent. Mid way through the season, I already had the Championship about won, and we were at The Mount Morris National. We had just taken delivery of the new prototype Full Floater earlier in the week. While riding in practice on the twin shock bike, there was a section that jarred my back every time I went through it. I was in a lot of pain from a back injury, so I took out the new bike, and going through the same section, there was no back no pain. The bike absorbed the bumps much better. I really wanted to race the new bike but Suzuki was against it because it was untested. The bike was so much better that I told them I wouldn't race unless I could ride the new bike. They agreed. I won that race and finished out the season with the Full Floater.
