I didn't raise the front end. On the 695, the stock top triple has a slight bend to it, making the tops of the forks stick out a little. that's what kept me from just grinding off the bar mounts, instead, I had to go with this one from SpeedyMoto. I'm pretty happy with it so far.
ah, gotcha. are those cans stock or did you core them out a bit? i had something similar on my '00 900 and after i had them modified the sound was awesome, a nice low rumble.
if you're going with the blacked out theme, how about ceramic coating those headers?