Accidentally bought a new T7

[Grumpy Goat]

I must admit to not having done in-depth research and point-by-point comparisons of all the possible options before choosing the T7. I hear that riding off-pavement, dropping the bike is inevitable. The thought of dropping a $10,500 T7 is easier to take than dropping a $25,000 R1250GS. Also, the T7 weighs in at 440 lbs wet, which is reasonably light. The Nordon 901 quotes 440 lbs without fuel, so with the 5 gals of fuel it holds, 480 lbs. 
Although the T7 is supposed to be capable of handling gnarly terrain in the right hands, my intent it to stick to easy gravel roads and maybe some minor technical stuff. I'm thinking about the Mid-Atlantic BDR, which is supposed to be the easiest one, in the early fall.

As a street rider looking to get into off-roading to that extent (which would be the same with me) I think that your starting point is bang on, given the accolades that the T7 seems to garner with the off-roading pundits on YT. That said the Kawasaki KLR 650 is also very well regarded, but watching the vids on it I have concluded that the best thing going for that is the price, since it is a very basic bike with good ground clearance and adequate performance offroad. Which suits some people but not those with our use cases.

Yes, going offroad is definitely more synonymous with dropping the bike than street bikes on the street, and dropping (and then fixing) a more expensive bike is definitely a concern. Not only that, middleweights make the most sense when riding offroad ... at least that is what the most competent off-roaders tend to say.

The thing about the Norden is that it is supposedly a more comfortable bike on the street than say the cousin 890 Adventure, is built better and has more features, all while being more capable offroad than I would even want. The T7 is more like the 890 Adventure, I think, albeit with a little less performance.