yea look about... if you want the hand made heavy duty built like a brick shithouse you really have Verns and Civils to choose from... the big disadvantage of both of these are that they are not Quick Release but the big advantage is they are very strong if you drop the bike.
Some of the other guys who make Panniers are more box like in their construction and they can look a bit unsightly on the bike but they are cheaper and do serve a purpose... most of the pannier makers that are in the vendors section on here can make you the pannier to your size requirements some of the guys who make the more box shaped pannier will not charge you any extra for a different than standard size.
if you want QR panniers Hepco and Becker, Metal Mules and TT seem to be the ones to choose from...Hepco and Becker seems to have the best prices, Metal Mules while liked by some IMO are way way over priced.
some of the other Low volume bespoke pannier makers like ARDcase can be fitted to the likes of TT and Hepco and Becker frames but you lose space on the exhaust side due to the frame stand off... a way around this is to fit a stubby exhaust and alter the frames but this all adds up in costs too.
i forgot about Micatech... possibly the best engineered of all the panniers and are QR but the down side is they don't have quite the "look" for a GS... also Al Jesses the old type design you could break into without tools apparently which doesn't make them seem very good... if you ever see a set on a RTW traveller they all seem to have extra locks fitted.
I have a set of Civils and while i love the look of them if i had to make a choice to buy again now i'd go for Hepco and becker because of price and function of Quick Release which i found to be quite important... when the gate to your back garden is narrower than your panniers
also being QR lets you use them as seats or table when camping.
Another thing is the price of the euro and dollar when buying something from abroad so homemade panniers could be the way to go... someone told me Civil had put his prices up by nearly £200.
Anyway you pays your money and you takes your pick... good luck
What i would think would be great is a thread about Pannier Prices
List every pannier manufacturer and prices they have for a Standard set of their panniers plus frames delivered to an UK address
plus the prices of items you need to fit them like changing your indicators to shorter ones or exhaust extenders etc.
) are bringing out a new design for 09 so you might want to wait as there may be some good second hand sets up for sale as people upgrade.
