I'm not a great fan of off road. I'll do it if I have to and I've done enough to know that I can cope with most conditions but it's not something I'll seek out unless it's the only way to get to where I want to go. I don't enjoy it as much as endure it. Good luck to those who do enjoy it and if they form some kind of higher level of overlanding life, well, that's the way it is.

That approach to things has played a big part in the bikes I've chosen to ride over the years. If most of my mileage is going to be tarmac then a small dirt orientated bike isn't going to be a sensible choice. However, for me, the difficulties of a big road bike on dirt are greater than a small dirt bike on road. I'm likely to injure myself when the former goes wrong as opposed to just geting bored with the latter. Safety is the number one priority on a long trip. Touch wood, other than bruises, sprains and a few cuts I've never had a serious injury in 40+yrs of bike trips.

One of the things I've noticed is that bikes have got bigger in that time - a lot bigger. I used to think stuff like Ted Simon's Triumph was massively overweight for going off tarmac but by current stds something like that with decent suspension would look custom made for the job (reliability to one side). I ought to post up a picture of the large (for the time) road bike I toured (and went off road on) in 1974 next to either of the two 600 single trail bikes I'm using in 2014. The older bike looks like a toy next to the other two yet they are the ones with off road pretentions. They only look svelte and dirt ready compared to the even more overpowered and overweight (touring) road bikes that litter the showrooms these days.

So, which one from your list? I've only ridden a couple of them but to my eye they're all too big and too heavy and become even more so when loaded up with the boxes and bags that form an overlanders life. Fine for tarmac use but a struggle and possibly dangerous struggle in the dirt (unless you're a lot more skillful than me - not very hard I admit). The CCM may be a possible exception but as you say that's yet to prove itself. Something like a low tech version of the CCM with less suspension travel - if I'm only doing the occasional bit of off road I don't need a foot of travel. I'll happily take a lower seat height in place of some of it. If you're over 6' that bit might not apply.

There's more to a long trip than the bike and for me something that faded into the background after a week or so would be perfect. I don't think it's a coincidence that bikes like the DRZ400 have been used for many long trips with substantial amounts of off road but of course they're rapidly becoming history now with nothing really taking their place.