I got looking at the old Intiminator thread on the SV forum, and ended up browsing some of their shock upgrade stuff. It seems they're using ZX-10/14 shocks for budget upgrades.
Code:
BIKE MODEL RATE (kg/mm) RATE (lb/in) RIDER (lb)
06-07 ZX-10R 8.3 465 157-166
06-11 ZX-14R 9.7 543 230-240
These two particular models have the reservoir coming straight off. Other years have angled reservoirs, which makes mounting them harder/impossible on the SV.
I was hoping to find a comparable Kawasaki shock that wouldn't require messing with the mounting stuff. Unfortunately, these both use 10mm mounting bolts, so they'll still require the same mods as the GSXR shock there. The width may or may not fit our little Ninjas better. RT does list the same replacement spring part numbers for these and the GSXRs, so they might serve as cheap spring donors if nothing else. They talked about getting these dirt cheap (under $30), but they seem to be closer to $100 on eBay now. If these manage to be less work to get installed and/or you do find one cheap, they might still be a good budget upgrade.
Hopefully someone here has access to one of these shocks (or is willing to buy one as a guinea pig) and can see how applicable it is.