It's hard to imagine that a worn oil ring would be caused by you, Jami. If your bike had eaten dirt, the compression rings, piston and the bore would be affected, too.

The soot is a worry, but is a result of excessive oil consumption imo.

7000km is a very short life for non-competition rings. OTR needs to answer some questions, perhaps. Unless you're using very bad oil and never changing it.