Many riders won’t touch 100+ HP machines until manufacturers start building them to be more reliable. But without modifications, those who own Kawasaki UTVs like the Mule, Teryx, and KRX may find themselves at the back of the pack when riding in the great wide open alongside vehicles like the Polaris RZR or Can-Am X3. Nevertheless, there’s more to off-roading than speed, and the faster you go, the more you’ll miss out on. And where performance and reliability is concerned, a slower Kawasaki side-by-side will leave other UTVs behind with broken axles and burnt belts. But if you want to get from your house to the trails faster, or if you use your rig to run errands on a tight schedule, there are ways to increase the top speed of your Kawasaki UTV. So if you require a little more oomph out of your side-by-side, here is how you might go about achieving faster speeds in your Kawasaki Mule, Teryx, or KRX.
How To Increase The Top Speed Of Your Kawasaki Teryx
Some UTV riders have compared the Kawasaki Teryx to a mountain goat, while others say that it’s more like a tank. And when it comes to speed, it has been said that the stock Kawasaki Teryx is about as fast as a turtle on two legs moving backward. Whatever analogy hits home for you, the point is that the Kawasaki Teryx is a machine built for things other than fast speeds. In terms of dependability, it’s hard to do better than a Teryx. And for those in need of a vehicle that can crawl everywhere, get into tight places, and hold its own on anything from tight and technical trails to wide-open fire roads, a Kawasaki Teryx is definitely the answer.
Instead of being optimized for speed, the Kawasaki Teryx was made to take you wherever you want to go. As a matter of fact, the Teryx is governed at around 50 MPH from the factory. So if you want to go any faster than that, the first thing you’ll need to do is eliminate said speed governor. The easiest way to remove speed limits on the Kawasaki Teryx is to have an ECU reflash done. Alternatively, you can also realize slight speed gains with a plug-in ECU tuner / programmer.
With nothing but an ECU reflash / tune, you can get an additional 10-12 MPH out of your Teryx. And if you want to hit that top speed faster from a dead stop, JBS clutching, Dalton clutching, and other aftermarket Kawasaki Teryx clutch kits can help. On top of that, bolt-on exhausts can also give your rig a horsepower boost with the appropriate tune. In the event that 60-65 MPH is still too slow, companies like Big Kev’s Performance makes motor kits for the Kawasaki Teryx for an insane amount of horsepower and torque.
How To Increase The Top Speed Of Your Kawasaki Mule
Certain UTVs are built for speed, while others are built for comfort, utility, and mobility. But just because you own a utility terrain vehicle like the Kawasaki Mule, doesn’t mean you have to lumber around like a big rig hauling an oversized load. Although you’ll never make a 10 Series Kawasaki Mule 3010 Trans as fast as a KRX, you can make it comparable to a Mule Pro.
An easy way to increase the top speed of your Kawasaki Mule is to make sure that the tires are fully inflated — the flatter your tires are, the slower you’ll go. Disabling the governor is another action you can take to reach faster speeds. To access the governor arm on a 3010 Trans Mule, start by drilling a hole ½” further out and moving the spring. Afterwards, you can then adjust the idle. It should be noted, however, that modifying the engine will likely affect the resale value of your machine, as many riders won’t purchase a UTV that’s been augmented in this way. Furthermore, you should also avoid running at full throttle for long periods of time after disabling the Mule’s governor, as this can cause internal engine problems.
Belt issues can also prevent your Mule from reaching its full top speed potential. As a CVT machine, it will take a while to get up to speed if your Mule’s belt is old or loose. At 3,600 rpm, though, you should be able to hit the vehicle’s top speed. If, however, your Mule feels rough when accelerating, snapping forward instead of rolling smoothly, then it’s probably time that you change the belt.
How To Increase The Top Speed Of Your Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000
Like with the Teryx and Mule, a tune will increase the top speed of your Kawasaki KRX. And as far as KRX tunes go, the Alba tune is among the best. That being said, however, although you’ll see a greater throttle response and quicker accelerations with a KRX tune, some additional clutch work will be required to hit faster top speeds.
Raising the rev limiter and throttle limiter in the KRX will get you to the vehicle’s top speed faster, but if you want to go beyond this threshold, you’ll also have to remove the top speed limiter. The KRX is arguably the stock king of rock crawling, and although pretty much everything will beat a KRX in a drag race, not everything is about flat-out speed. Because the KRX is geared very low with amazing trail suspension, it simply isn’t designed for racing. They are still plenty fast, though, and if you really want to up the HP in a KRX, it can be done.
