Gearing & MT-43

Hoping for a little help.
OK, so I went out for a 300 mile dual sport ride over the weekend. It was cold, rainy, and just plan miserable.  
It was also my first long ride with the MT-43 tire on the rear, hooked up great at 12PSI BTW. But, boy is she ever a tall girl and I think that is part of my problem.  I thought that a 14-52T with the MT43 would be a good dual sport setup.  But it seemed way too tall. I was constantly down shifting just to get up little hills, could barely clutch the front up in 3rd gear. Could the MT43 tire height make that big of a difference?
I run a 14-47T with my 17’s supermoto wheels and can clutch it up in 3rd, 4th gear and ride wheelies for miles. And it’s still got enough grunt in it to bring the front wheel back up if it dips a little.
But the dual sport setup (14-52) with the MT-43 just felt dead. I couldn’t even top out the speedo on flat land.
I had to go with the 14t up front because of the chain eating the swingarm. I’m a heavier guy (210lbs) and likes to wheelie. The 14t up front was the only way I found to keep the swingarm in one piece. Id hate to go bigger on the rear gearing but it would be even worse for me to drop the front and start eating the swingarm again.

Any thoughts or words of wisdom?

Thank you all in advance.

I've got the MT43 and 13/52 gearing. It's still a bit tall for tight trails. I keep an eye on chain tension and the swingarm guard, hasn't started to cut it yet.