well,we seem to have quite a lot in common!,my RGS rep cripples me also!.as for the forks clanking mine was exactly the same and having recently converted the bike to clip ons i replaced the springs with some progressive ones and also fit two way damping rods,what a differance,job sorted and now feels like a new bike.as you allready have the two way damping rods,which looking at your pic would say they are period Eddie Dow ones as they have the acorn nuts on the stanchion top nuts,i would try some new progessive springs,just need to drop the fork legs,remove the metal shrouds and new springs go straight in.i would also try some thicker fork oil.as regards the kickstart lever fouling your leg a forward quadrant as fitted to Gold Stars/RGS will re-orientate the lever to one o clock,problem solved,these are readily available but a bit expensive at around £60.