2009 EZ-GO Freedom Gas s.. l.. o.. w

[Creapy Crawler]

I'm new to this forum and already I'm asking or help but let me explain. I am a retired auto engineer who live near another engineer and we both love to make thngs go faster. I just traded in my 2003 gas EZ-GO for a new 2009 Freedom, though I really like the ride and the new dash the Kawasaki engine is a disappointment. Living in a golf cart community our carts are a major source of transportation so you have some people with golf course carts which do 13mph and some carts set to the factory max of 19.5mph. I am one of those who prefers to have my governor in my foot and not in the axle. I had done a few things to my 2003 to make it more responsive and I can't stand knowing that engine has more power available that I can't take advantage of. I expected the new Kawasaki single to be less smooth than the Robins twin but I didn't expect the governor system to be so difficult to work on. It has been very difficult to adjust the linkage to get better performance and not have a problem with the engine surging and being jerky. I have had the dealer come out to adjust it and he basically knows very little about the Kawasaki engine and could not do much to give me better performance. We have tried adjusting the accelerator cable and the governor plate with no luck.

After studying the new set up and much discussion with another retired auto engineer we have determined that the governor plate needs a redesign and I need a higher speed rear axle. So my question for the experts at Buggies Gone Wild is where can I order a 2009 Freedom (Kawasaki) governor plate and is there an 8 to 1 rear axle available for the 2009 RXV cart? The old cart was very reliable for the 5 years I owned it ran and very smoothly at 25mph with a top end of 38mph that gave me extra speed when I wanted to pass the really slow carts. I'm hoping to get 30mph - 35mph top end with the new one.

[ruredy]

Originally Posted by ezgomike

There is NO rev limiter on the Kawasaki in the RXV.

The only governor adjustment is via the throttle cable at the back of the engine. DO NOT take out all of the cable slack, just adjust a couple threads at a time as needed. Test drive with handheld GPS to make sure you are within factory speed setting.

The RPM's on this Kawasaki are limited to around 4000rpm's by the valve springs.

Evidently the new carts with Kawaski engines will fly, Mike warns about taking all the slack out of the cable because the cart will run way to fast.

[mikesmotortoys]

The 13 hp Kawasiki is AWESOME. I HIGHLY doubt if you had a stock TXT running 38mph. The govenor isn't the issue with the new carts, they will run in the mid 20's w/o any issue and minor cable adjustmsent, which is plenty fast.

There is a timing retard built into the engine. Once you hit a certain RPM, the timing is breifly retarded to slow the engine. This is where you need to "Engineer" a modification. Keep us up to speed on what you find

[Subarumouse]

Hello all,

If it's the same system as in a Honda GX, you have to take out the whole system and fill up the hole in the block.
The GX system is like a mill, to fast turning of the weights couses ignition stop / pause.
If the Kawa doesn't have a oilpump, so only a finger smashing through the oil, you have to build in a centrifugal oilpump and change the cranck to.(More oilchannels)
With more than 4500 you have to change the valvesprings in harder ones.
More than say 5200 on long distance max 5800 ,you have to build in the centrifugal oilpump.
This is because of tearing apart the oil by the finger on the connectingrod.
In this case we also build in bearings in the rod.

By the way overhere we build Honda's over to watercooling with 30 HP on the chainwheel and 7000 revs.
They hold 30 to 40 hours without revision.

In this case the EH35c is a better base for tuning.

Benno

[Creapy Crawler]

Originally Posted by mikesmotortoys

The 13 hp Kawasiki is AWESOME. I HIGHLY doubt if you had a stock TXT running 38mph. The govenor isn't the issue with the new carts, they will run in the mid 20's w/o any issue and minor cable adjustmsent, which is plenty fast.

There is a timing retard built into the engine. Once you hit a certain RPM, the timing is breifly retarded to slow the engine. This is where you need to "Engineer" a modification. Keep us up to speed on what you find

Actually the TXT was very close to stock it had a 8 to 1 rear axle, 20.5" rear tires, and the governor lever bored out so square shaft just rotated freely inside. We did the same thing on a 2007 but with a 6 to 1 rear axle and it can top 40. Both of these speeds were checked using GPS and police radar guns. I currently have the cart running in the mid 20s but I still experience some surging which I find very annoying. I believe I can get close to the same performance by doing basically the same thing with the Kawasaki engine but I don't want to bore out the hole in the governor lever unless I know I can get another if it doesn't work. From what I can determine there is till a lot more throttle available the governor holds it back, you can feel the governor full against the spring on the accelerator cable. In addition I am pretty sure that this cart has a standard ratio rear end which I believe is in he 12 to 1 range going to 8 to 1 will add a lot. I may be wrong and the electrical cut off may be kicking in but can't tell for sure until I can disable the mechanical governor.