John,
I've got panniers, although neither the panniers nor the carriers are fitted at the moment.
It's not so much that the exhausts have to be lowered to fit panniers, the panniers will fit with the exhausts in their standard position which gives more than adequate ground clearance.
It's more like the exhausts can be raised from their standard position to give extra clearance if you really feel you need it. D'ya see the distinction?
You seem to be very concerned about ground clearance? Is the VFR really bad and stung you with decking out? I refer you back to WJB's story of Monty coming round the outside of him, knee down, on a track day...with his panniers on!
Really, trust me on this, I have been on trackdays and ragged the tyres right to their very edge and nothing has touched down. Unless you use superhuman lean angles you won't have a problem, although of course if you and your pillion weigh about 20 stone each that could change things.
Jools
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