That is of course entirely logical Ian! I am not an aficionado of fork stay lengths...:-)
It does seem odd to produce a part only to cut some of it off, then add a spacer! Were they actually produced like that or was it simply a common problem with them snapping off, so they are all in fact workshop repairs? I have seen quite a number of forks with either the trumpet missing / broken off or repaired, as with mine; the trumpet snapped off half way & welded back in place.