Chuck, I'm curious about something I noticed in the second photo in your 2nd post. Did you have to eat all those cupcakes by yourself before starting the shock removal procedure?
I'm wondering why Honda didn't save us all a lot of grief and simply tapped out a hole in the frame where that bolt slides through. Wouldn't need no acorn nut, wouldn't need to remove anything to access a non needed acorn nut, yada, yada, yada...Also a great big thanks to "Reginald" for his tips on only loosening not removing the footpeg hanger. Saved a lot of grief during reassembly. Also a big thanks for the tip about using a box end wrench and taping the acorn nut to the wrench when re-installing the upper Shock bolt. I used masking tape. Worked very good and keep the frustration to a minimum. All in all, not that difficult with the proper tools and information on on hand.