Personally I got rid of the kickstand mod as I kept breaking kickstand springs due to the increased tension. Well, actually, at the moment I don't have a kickstand on my bike because I'm springless. But when I get another spring I'm going back to stock.
Just curious - did the spring really break due to the extra tension? Or was it due to the "sharpness" of the hole it rides using a chain sideplate? I remember someone using a dremel to radius where the spring rides to alleviate the second issue.
To reduce the tension slightly, you can bend the chain link back towards the pivot point (just not too much). This will still leave the upper spring attachment point "forward" of the pivot bolt and keep the kickstand from auto-retracting.
Just another thought I had, did the spring break due to rubbing contact with the foot peg? When I had my Fastway pegs in low-boy position, the spring really scrapped/rubbed against the edge of the peg. In standard position, the spring still contacted a bit but was not too bad.
From an engineering standpoint, the shear stress in coil springs is highest were it transitions from a smaller diameter to larger body diameter. With the peg contacting the spring, the scraps/nicks acts as stress risers and induce fatigue failures even easier. Just trying to offer another explanation of why it could be failing.
Thanks Matt, I've been going through all the same scenarios (I'm an MecE) but can't figure it out, because there's no knicks or anything that I can see, and it's happened to two springs.