I can sort of relate to what you're saying.

I used to have a 125ccm back in the day and race around in the woods and on a local MX-track. Couple of years ago I got my license and bought a F650GS Dakar thinking I could just hop back on and spin around in the forest. I remember the first time I drove it I tried to do a 180 turn spinning the back wheel and nearly dropped it. It hit me how heavy it was and quite frankly scared me a bit. I never really drove it offroad, swapped it for an Aprilia Shiver last year.

Long story short, I'm now on the XT660Z and I've come to the strikingly obvious conclusion that it will never be like a 125 ccm offroad

Mind you, putting on TKC80s helped tremendously in my case. The more I ride offroad the more confidence I build. I've had one semi-serious fall which nearly busted my ribs, but I actually think it helped with the confidence. Nothing bad happened to the bike, just a bit of scratched plastic, so I know that dropping it is not the end of the world.

About the knbbies - I also drive mostly tarmac. Commute to work, to/from offroad trips, etc. I don't know what people are on about, but for me TKC80 works perfectly fine for every day use. They wear a bit faster and are probably more scary in the rain, but I can live with it.

Anyway, keep at it, you'll get comfortable in the end