Back when Team Honda ran the air cooled bikes (and maybe the 650 too) in Baja, they required/strongly suggested you run a K&N air filter. For the 1000 there would be about 20 Team Honda pits set up on the peninsula and the only air filter spares they had were K&N. Standard was to change the filter one time during the race, although how silty the course was that year could affect the number of filter changes. Some teams, like us, typically ran the K&N with a filter skin on it and simply pulled the skin at half way.
So, K&N filters do have some off road applications. However, in those days, every motor had to be rebuilt after the race!
My last race was on an water-cooled Honda with an oiled Twin-Air filter and a filter skin, which is what most Hondas ran starting about 2006. Bike had already been from Tecate to Cabo once before the race, won the 1100 mile race (450 pro), and has about 6000 miles on it now...with no top end work ever done! Great Honda quality!
I would not run a K&N filter in place of the OEM on a Talon, especially without a pre-filter.