Yeah that's my way of thinking too. It's only going to be showroom shape once and if you get too picky what you do or where you go, trying to maintain that brand new look forever, then you'll be limited where you can go and you'll still be heartbroken at some time when that first scratch appears.
Me for instance, on a trip to Utah's Paiute Trails there were several 50" and less (!) gateways, like this one.
While the 800 Trail measures exactly 50" to the outsides of the tires the shoulder bars actually measure 51.5" at the widest place and the addition of the CF Moto half doors makes the widest measurement 53"
It scrubbed pretty good on most of the gates, and this one above wasn't the tightest. I rubbed off some paint, and though I'm not 100% pleased, still I don't regret going there and the battle scars are going to be part of the legacy of the ride. Yeah, I made that trail my bitch!
(Maybe if I find a crystal orange spray bomb I can touch it up a bit)
A thought I had (a bit late) was maybe a guy should carry a couple of those thin and flexible but very tough plastic cutting board covers I saw in a dollar store. About 14" X 10" and really thin. When a tight spot like that comes along just slip those in between the wide spots on the machine and the narrow place on the trail, and slip through. A theory anyway.