Hi Chris,
Glad your upgrade went well! It sure is nice when things go smoothly, eh? About the voltage, up to 14.4-14.6 should be perfectly safe and not cause any problems. You are correct that bulbs will have a shorter life span, but to me that's an acceptable sacrifice for the increase in light output. IMO, the danger point would be 15 volts or more. Some hybrid battery types, including Optima, require 14+ volts and really should have at least 14.5 or so. There is a really good article on this topic here:
http://www.landiss.com/battery.htm
On a side note, I have noticed no horsepower loss due to the higher rotating mass of the big alternator. You are correct, as long as the electrical load is low, there should be minimal extra drag on the crank. It will still make the engine spin up slower simply due to rotating mass, kind of like a heavy flywheel. But IMO the effect is negligible. I still plan to install the other 143A alternator on my other car, but I need to do the timing chain first!
Best regards,