The job is done - it was easy with Scotty's written help! The only thing I would add is a modifier to my modifier - I still ended up chewing up my clutch cable housing a little bit... even the electric tape I wrapped around the allen wrench got mucked up, as you'll see in the photo. The two cables that come through the left side opening of the nacelle really impinge on the space the tool needs to turn.
I finally sussed it during reassembly. I tied the clutch cable forward, toward the headlight - that separated the two cables for a little more clearance. I threw all the protective rags away, and replaced them with a roughly 1"x3" piece of aluminum flashing with some tape on the bottom to protect the nacelle's paint, and bent into a U around the opening. Problem
really solved - I can see what I'm doing, and the cables are well protected:
As for the job? Keep in mind that this is, for all intents and purposes, my first bike, and I've only been riding a year... if I hold the front brake and push the front end down, I think it's smoother than before, but honestly, I really don't notice a difference while riding. Same thing with my Hagon rear shock replacement - it looks better, but it doesn't feel any different. Like I said before, it's a good experience, and hopefully I've improved the bike's handling ability for safety's sake, but it feels like the same ride to me.
I was more careful about collecting the old oil from the second fork; I managed to grab almost 190ml from it - maybe simply having near the right quantity of oil was enough. If so, I can't imagine what bad shocks must be like...