In all honesty, even with the low mounts, (if you're in the correct body position) you'll scrape your foot pegs before you scrape your exhaust.
Lots of people go right to high mount pipes for reasons like that. I just couldn't bring myself to do that.
As for looks, I think the low mount pipes look better (especially on the Monsters with the dual sided swing arm). They give the bikes that old school look that's timeless.