Ok, when you order shocks from say, Tokico, for an EK, they are the same ones you get when you order them for an EG, the difference is, you use the included washers to make up the difference in the space between the bushing collar and the fork, but it is the same part. If you need a bushing to fit a different sized fork in a shiftlinkage, but otherwise, it's the same, would it make sense to make a completely different part, or just make a bushing that will fit? Honda may, because they are going to makle then for evreyone of the cars that gets made, aftermarket companies don't because they are selling parts that people may buy and put on, so when there is a part like that, that only requires a washer, it stands to reason that you would maybe lose money by making two nearly identical parts.
As your experiance has shown the obstacle can be easily overcome, either by modifing the linkage as you did, or by using a spacer, but it is still the same part. If you can't think freely enough to figure out how to fit it, you still shouldn't be telling people it won't work, when it will, or that it isn't the same part, when it is.
BTW, I vote for using the OEM piece anyway