Dunlop D606 Tire Review

[Mr. Guy]

http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/tirecatalog_tire.asp?id=14

This I realize will only interest the dual-sport riders here, but I just got a set of these tires and thought I would post a quick review. I've only got a few miles on them but I was really surprised how smooth they were on the highway. With the aggressive tread pattern, I expected them to vibrate and whine quite a bit, but they are as smooth as the Kenda 761 street oriented tires I have been using, plus they hook up better on the gravel roads we have here in Oklahoma. After I get more miles on them I'll update this review, but if your thinking about more dirt oriented tires for your dual-sport, you might give these a try.

Guy

[braindead0]

Hows the front end feel in deep gravel? My wife isn't liking the stock 'deathwing' tires on her DR ;-)

[motomac]

I spooned mine on yesterday and didn't even back out of the garage. It is 849 miles to Eureka Springs, so I don't want to put many miles on them prior to leaving, so I'll have enough tread to do the TAT after NatSToc. I have no doubt they'll be better in dirt and gravel than the Tourances I did the AK run with.

[braindead0]

Excellent, look forward to more ride report and specifically info on these tires.. I'd think TAT would be a really good test ;-)

[motomac]

Excellent, look forward to more ride report and specifically info on these tires.. I'd think TAT would be a really good test ;-)
Well Guy, Rick, and Chief are doing it and I'm tagging along, so between the four of us at least 2 have 606's.

[Mr. Guy]

Hi Braindead0,

Unfortunately, deep gravel is like sand and marbles, it's just going to roll around under your tires, so hold on, sit as far back on the seat as practicable, and give it the gas. After your through it, stop and clean out the shorts if necessary, that's what I do. But they were better on the packed gravel around were I live. I haven't been in some deep gravel yet, but I can't imagine they wouldn't be better then the trailwings and definitely not worse.

Guy

[Jetfixer]

I was actually looking at getting those next time around. I'm running the pirelli scorpions and they're practically all street, but they get alot of miles and I can corner like a sports bike on pavement. A couple weeks ago I went dirt riding with a guy who had 606s on his and he had to pull me out of the mud. He said he loved them but they didn't last all that long. It definitly beats being stuck in the mud if you're off roading much! Did you mail order or buy them locally? I'm due for a new rear tire, I may go get it while I'm up your way next month.

[Mr. Guy]

Hi,

I got them off the internet from this place:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/5337/ITEM/Dunlop-D606-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx

Very fast turn around. Even with shipping it's cheaper than the stores around here.

Guy

[Jetfixer]

Thanks Guy! I'll order mine there too. Can't wait to get them on.

[Mr. Guy]

Hi All,

An update here, I now have a little over 275 miles on these tire in many conditions from interstate to muddy road. I am still pleased with these tires, they handle all road conditions better than I'm willing to push them. Deep gravel still a little wiggly, but I don't think any tire would be well planted in those areas, or maybe it's just me. And a little squirmy on hard cornering on pavement, but you have to push it harder than you should with knobs anyway. Everywhere in between I happy. Not much wear yet either. I give another update when I see some wear and give you the mileage.

Guy

[Jetfixer]

Guy, I like the 606 much better than the Kenda 270 after seeing them both in action. The Kenda seems to be a softer rubber compound. Oh, that 606 kicks up a lot of rocks! :eek:

[Mr. Guy]

Oh, now I know why you were so far back there a couple of times, I thought I might be going to fast. As slow as I go I thought " Man he's really slow. ", but I didn't think that was possible. Apparently it's not. Just throw up rocks and no one will ride to close to you.

Guy

[Mr. Guy]

Hi All,

Another update, I managed to find about 4 miles of soft gooey mud today. Seems they had just started redoing the dirt road when it started to rain the last few days. I wouldn't have road it, but my friend Jake was behind me so I thought "if I drop it, Jake can help me pick it up". Somehow I kept it on the tires and I'm betting it was because of better tires and not my riding technique, I was all over the place. But I got to the end and that's what counts, no points for style. Definitely better than the Trail-Wings.

Guy

[Flingshot]

I have a little over 380 miles on my D606 tires on my DRZ and I am very pleased as well. With the Trail Wings the front used to drift qite a bit (in the dirt) and now seems very controllable. I have noticed it to be a bit less stable at higher speeds on pavement. (It feels a bit squishy for lack of a better term but I think that would be the same with any knobby tire.) Overall, great tire and I will buy them again.
Oh by the way they make my bike look sexy too:rolleyes:

Scott

[Mr. Guy]

Hi All,
Probably last update here as I'm going back to the Kenda K761 tires soon. The D606 has been a good tire but I normaly don't ride that much dirt.
With about 375 miles on them I headed to the begining of the TAT trip.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/mrguy001/SN-IgkDjBkI/AAAAAAAAAIU/vJiMv7UP7N4/s640/375mls

At about Little Rock Ar they started to howl quite a bit. Loud howling. When I reached the campgound I noticed there still wasn't much wear. At about 900 total miles.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/mrguy001/SN-IY7t6OZI/AAAAAAAAAH4/c3CuzEdjEGA/s640/900mls

After 2 days on the trail, about 500 miles, I noticed a bit of wear, more than the 500 miles on pavement to get tothe trail. At about 1400 total miles.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/mrguy001/SN-IdTge0bI/AAAAAAAAAIE/gmVfgCDj9JI/s640/1400mls

1 1/2 more days on the trail and the ride home and they were showing it. At about 1850 miles.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/mrguy001/SN-Ie-vQpXI/AAAAAAAAAIM/OABKy175aSQ/s640/1850mls

And then yesterday I rode down to the Talimena Drive, all on pavement, and after about 2100 miles this is what they look like.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/mrguy001/SN-Ikcbre1I/AAAAAAAAAIc/qxb5Xx2RsY4/s640/2100mls

By the way, are they still called chicken strips on knobbies. There road grip at this point was still great, I pushed them at lot harder than was sane for a knobby on pavement and they never felt wobbly or not planted. For what they were intended they are a very good tire, but I will be replaceing them soon for a more street tire as they have started to howl very loud and vibrate quite a bit too. I hope this help anyone looking for a more dirt tire for their dual-sport, I'm happy with them for the job I wanted them to do.

Guy

[motomac]

So, I have a set of those on the KLR that I installed for the TAT that I didn't do.(Absolutely 0 miles on them) Now I have a set of Tourances on the way to Ohio that will beat me there.(I'm still in CA) I will remove the 606's and replace them with the Metzlers for a run down to VA. The 606's will remain in the garage for the TAT next year.

As far as deep gravel goes, there is no tire that will not squirm a little. You just have to let the bike wiggle around under you and keep your weight on the pegs.
I ran a stretch of deep gravel and sand on the Liard Highway in Northwest Territory in June and was on the pegs for about 25 miles. The ruts in this stuff were at least 8" deep and I was a bit scared, because the road was closed to normal traffic and there was no help to be had if I dumped into the tundra. My tires were Tourances and of course they are kinda 90/10% highway/garvel. I don't know how much better the 606's would have been, but I imagine they would have hooked up a bit better than the Metzlers.

[Chief]

I put a 606 on the rear of my bike in Colorado on the TAT and I really liked it. :)It would dig and grab on just about anything we encountered and then on the way home it gripped the asphalt good also.

I had to stop in Wichita Falls and get a front tire on the way home. All they had was a Bridgestone Trailwing and it was cheap so I got it. Now I have a loud howling and I don't know for sure which tire it is. I'm thinking it's the Trailwing because I didn't notice it before but it is driving me crazy!:(

[Mr. Guy]

Hi All,

Time for a new update. After riding locally with a few guys from ADVRider on the backroads around Oklahoma, I've just mounted a new set of D606 tires on the old DR. The deciding moment was a little mishap involving a mud pit encounter. :eek:

The K761s don't have much grip there. This set I'll probably run till they're slick. I really like these tire for the backroad riding.

Guy

[ntvinh986]

http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/tirecatalog_tire.asp?id=14

This I realize will only interest the dual-sport riders here, but I just got a set of these tires and thought I would post a quick review. I've only got a few miles on them but I was really surprised how smooth they were on the highway. With the aggressive tread pattern, I expected them to vibrate and whine quite a bit, but they are as smooth as the Kenda 761 street oriented tires I have been using, plus they hook up better on the gravel roads we have here in Oklahoma. After I get more miles on them I'll update this review, but if your thinking about more dirt oriented tires for your dual-sport, you might give these a try.

Guy


Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.

[swandog]

when i had my 650 single enduro i found the perelli MT 21 to be the best tires

[asmi18]

i run a 606 on the front of my 05 dr650, and its brilliant ....its excellent on the road (even in the wet), and on the dirt it holds brilliantly, and its not too bad when i have the 32lt tank full and im still on stock springs...i really need to change them!

[Mr. Guy]

Welcome asmi18,

Enjoy the site and I believe your our first member from Pakistan too.

[Ironheadziggy76]

Welcome to the site asmi18!

[IndyDon]

Welcome to the site.

[quadancer]

I don't know why I read this thread, but as a rule, dirt, gravel and mud become more solid at speed. The worst thing you can do is try to crawl through it. Sand even gets like cement at speed. In mud, you look for stuff to get traction off of to propel you forward, like roots, rocks, high dirt or whatnot, and go from point to point, using those to accelerate off of.
That tire looks like some I'd run on my motocrossers. I'd probably hate it on the street; which we stayed off of because it wears out the tires.

[Mr. Guy]

Well, you won't be getting a lot of miles out of a set of these tires, but they do handle a curvy highway a lot better than you'd think they would. Lot's of grip.

[Ironheadziggy76]

Guy, I was amazed at the mileage I got with the Continental TKC80's. When I took them off the front was still in fair shape and the rear had worn off fairly flat from the interstate miles, but I got over 7,000 miles out of them on the Wee. Not too shabby for a DOT knobby! P^

[quadancer]

That depends on your riding skills/style. Competition riding decrees the tire shot when the knobbies round over, and can still be 1/2" tall. Average goombah playing dirtbike in the woods will notice a decrease in traction when they get down to 1/4-3/8".
Someone just riding down dirt roads might not notice anything at all on a nearly bald tire.
I used to get 5 rides out of a back tire that never saw the pavement - 2 in one direction, 2 in another, and one more if I ground the knobs square again.

[lytle1gw]

Back in the day of racing enduro, i used on tire a race but that was a long time ago andd the tires are a lot better compound now.

[Ironheadziggy76]

That depends on your riding skills/style. Competition riding decrees the tire shot when the knobbies round over, and can still be 1/2" tall. Average goombah playing dirtbike in the woods will notice a decrease in traction when they get down to 1/4-3/8".
Someone just riding down dirt roads might not notice anything at all on a nearly bald tire.
I used to get 5 rides out of a back tire that never saw the pavement - 2 in one direction, 2 in another, and one more if I ground the knobs square again.

Bob Hannah, is that you? :lol I'm kidding, I've met Bob Hannah. :p

I think we can agree that DOT legal knobbies will last a lot longer than the knobbies we used to run on our Elsinores. :) Granted, the last bike I raced was a CR250R from the 80's, but I've had the pleasure of riding a like new CRF450R last summer and the tires on it were amazing. Actually the whole bike was amazing! P^ Back in the dark ages we didn't have the tread selection or all the different compounds that the youngsters have now days.

[quadancer]

Yeah, it actually requires some knowledge to select a tire now, as compounds are for different hardness of dirt, rock or mud riding. Those tires on the rock climbers are like foam rubber!

[Mr. Guy]

That depends on your riding skills/style. Competition riding decrees the tire shot when the knobbies round over, and can still be 1/2" tall. Average goombah playing dirtbike in the woods will notice a decrease in traction when they get down to 1/4-3/8".
Someone just riding down dirt roads might not notice anything at all on a nearly bald tire.


I think your right on the money there, your average "I ride the back county gravel roads" kinda dual-sporter, like me, will run them down pretty short. Being most of your riding is in a straight up position, you run the middle down first, like street tires, and I figure I still have knobs on the sides to get me through a little mud here and there. And even as aggressive as these are, they're still DOT street legal tires, not competition tires. But that's okay, I'm not a competition rider either, I just putter around on the weekends.