Which of these three tires lasts the longest on the pavement?  These three seem to be the favorites here and I've heard that they all work well in the dirt, but how long can they be run on the pavement before they become slicks?  

Id say its a tie between the 606 and Baja. If you are NOT roasting them on the street you can get from 1000 to 3000 miles out of them.  

Here's what I found out........Mt 21, great street tire, not very good in the dirt..Baja, GREAT dirt tire but on the street I've gone through the back tire very fast...I do stand it up a lot on the street :devil:Front tire no problem..Next set are the 606's. Was told that the one????and that my .02 worth!.woody

The front MT21 on my XT350 looked like new and the back was still in good shape after two Shenandoah 500's (300 miles of pavement, gravel roads and mountain trails in one weekend) and a couple of hundred miles of riding around town. Total mileage of around 1,000 miles. I am not real impressed with the off-road traction though. If I am going to give up road traction in favor of knobbies, it would be nice if they hooked up.

I have Maxxis M6006's on my XL650. The back hooks up better and the front worse than the MT21's on my 350. But it could be the difference in bikes since the XT350 has a pretty skimpy rear tire and the 650 has some serious weight.

the 606 just does not look that agressive to me. i ran the MT21 during the fall and it sucks compared to my Kenda trackmaster II  in the mud, slop and loamy good soil

I may look at tha Baja this next time changing rubber which will be soon and leave me with summer conditions,  next fall if I dont like the baja  then I will get another yet wider Kenda trackmaster II  - I know it works for me in the dirt and I have 600 miles on mine its starting to show wear so I would guess its a 1000 mile tire, but its cheap like 45 bucks

For this comparison, I'd say there are two tires, the 606/Baja and the MT21/Kenda.
The MT21/Kenda is the clear winner if you want a more dirt tire. But for a true dualsport tire, it's between the 606 and Baja. If you look at the Baja and 606 side by side the Baja has a more aggressive knobby spacing. The Baja and 606 feel about the same and wear about the same. But, you get an advantage in the dirt with the Baja due to knobby spacing. I ran a non D.O.T. tire on the street for a while, it was downright scary. especially in hard braking, it broke loose easily. There is no perfect tire, yet. Like Dualsport bikes, they're a compromise.  

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I've seen the Kendas and they look like they would be a good dirt tire like you say, I also recall thinking that the knobbies were a little skimpy for the road and that I thought they would wear out in a short time.  How would you say the kenda lasts on the road?  Is that 600 mi. road miles or your total miles on the tire?

These all have to be better than a Dunlop Trans alp(?) off rd though.

I MOUNTED DUNLOP 606s 148 MILES AGO.  (XR650R)  I HAVE PUT ABOUT 130 MILES OF THAT OFF ROAD AND AM VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE TIRES SO FAR.  YES AN ALL DIRT TIRE WOULD BE BETTER BUT NOT BY MUCH.  ON THE STREET THEY ARE QUIET AND RUN SMOOTH.  THE ONLY DISAPOINTMENT WAS WHEN I GOT THEM MOUNTED.  THE 120/90 18 REAR IS DEFINATLEY NOT AS WIDE AS MY DUNLOP 739 110/100 18 THAT CAME STOCK ON THE BIKE.  AS FAR AS WEAR THEY STILL LOOK NEW AND I HAVE TAKEN THEM ON SERIOUS ROCK STREWN TIRE EATIN TERRAIN!  MUCH BETTER WEAR THAN THE 739s.  THEY HAVE A SMOOTH FEEL TO THEM AND EVEN THOUGH THEY DONT BITE SOME STUFF BETTER THAN THE 739s THEY FEEL REAL FORGIVING AND LET YOU KNOW WHATS HAPPENING AT ALL TIMES.  NOT A BAD D.O.T. TIRE AT ALL!  MY NEXT SET WILL BE THE MICHELIN BAJAs.  I JUST WANT TO CHECK THEM ALL OUT.  BUT IF SOMEONE SAID 606s ARE ALL YOUR ALLOWED TO HAVE I WOULDNT COMPLAIN.  HOPE THIS HELPS.

Thanks for the info guys!

My riding partner toasted his MT21 in a couple of miles buy doing only a little bit of pavement.  Not that tough...  He's not going to buy another...

I borrowed Coreys bike and put a new MT21 on for him. I rode it last weekend and I still like the Baja better than the 606 and MT21.

Lot,s of opinions!!!. Here,s mine. The Pirelli MT21, (140/80/18, rear is a decent offroad tire that seems to outlast anything else I've used, (Sierra mountains,great traction to exfoliated granite,red sloppy stuff,nasty volcanic rock,brutal granite shelves,snow drifts,ect..!!!. It's the best rear tire I've used and does'nt seem to mind the pavement abuse either!!!. Front tire???. I've still not found one that I'm happy with for the DRZ, so I have no opinion there.

Mt21 rear is more stable at slow speeds than the 606.  But who wants to go slow the 606 is better and grippyer at higher off road speeds.  I have only run an mt21 up front and it grip.  I have never washed out my front wheel with them the rear tire always breaks free first. I only get about 100 mi. which ever I run on the back and about 2000 from the front. I also commute to work 25 mi. each way at 90mph which wears them faster.  Cheers  

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I've put over 1K miles on a D606 rear and it's has about 75% of the tread left. 50/50 dirt/street riding, too. Very, VERY impressed with this tire. I've ridden some gnarly granite rocks, hard pack, loose powder, sand, you name it. It works well in all conditions out here in the So Cal & Mex deserts & mountain terrains.

I run 17-19 psi. The sidewalls are as stiff as a morning "salute," if you know what I mean. The only drawback is that it doesn't come in a 130/90-18 size which would be ideal for the heavy DP bikes. I'm running an MT-18 Heavy Duty up front that has sidewalls as stiff as the D606. It's a great combo for most all terrain, except for loose gravel and extended rides in soft sand.

It looks like this tire will go another 1.5K miles easily. 2.5K - 3K for ANY rear tire is impressive, especially if you ride off-road.  

I've thought the Micjelin Baja was like a 606 on a work out program. The Baja has a more aggressive knob spacing, but wears long like the 606. So, you get a better bite offroad with the benefit of longer knob wear. New d.o.t. tires are coming out with regularity........finally.

I ran MT21's front and rear.  I liked the tires in dirt better than the stock Dunlop 490 & 695 combo.  I didn't ride much street with them.

For mostly dirt, the Kenda Trakmaster II rear is a great tire.  It does wear on the street.  I have only read one positive review on the front tire, most reviewers hate the front tire.  For that reason, I ran a MT18.  This combo is DOT approved and the tread pattern looks like Dunlop 756's.

Heavier bikes are going to put more wear on a tire.
Road use is going to toast most knobbies in a short time.

Buy according to what you need.  The Baja is sounding good for more  street use.

I've been using perelli mt21's front and rear for about 1500 miles, with on and off road use.  This tire hooks up great in the dirt, and the front tire shows little wear.  The rear is about half gone though, I estimate 4500 front, 3000 miles.  This tire has kicked ass off road, althogh on speeds over 70 on the freeway, they do start to wobble from the crosswinds.  The stock tires were much more stable on the street at speed.  I would highly reccomend the mt21's for dual sport use primarily off-road.

I'll add that the MT21 is the best rock and wet-rock tire I've run into so far. It has very good rain grip as well.
I've used it on big granite outcroppings and rust-colored jagged outcroppings and broken robot-head rocks.

What about sand? Here in northern Michigan there is LOTS of sand.