[BadToTheBown]

I'll offer some comments to your questions.

Of the options (bikes) you are looking at, I'd go for the one with upgraded suspension. A pair of shocks is $1K fast and they make a pretty noticeable difference in handling and ride quality.

The one offering the back rest is the ticket for the old lady. Those seats are several hundred $s.

On the tip overs, I doubt it hurt the heads. Valve covers are another matter.

Several ways to go with the bars. Cheapest is to relocate them above the trees by sliding the inner stanchion tubes up in the upper triple tree and reinstall the bars on the tube ends that protrude. This is what I did on my Tourer.

There's at least 2 other things you can buy to accomplish bars above the trees and the RS bars offer the same with a lot of adjustability, but plan on some changes to cables/lines.

If you want to really sharpen the handling, there's more, some pretty simple, some require welding.

Good luck...