On the stock shocks? Honestly, you can play with them till the cows come home, and never really get them to ride correctly, you can play with the stockers and get a tad better, but the internals are valved so wrong and cheap, just upgrade to a set of our Hester Editions in any of the 5 stages (see the Elka 5 stage breakdown video on our channel) and be in a totally new world of ride quality and performance. We have never found any setting that worked properly with the stock shocks.
We are working on all 3 Gen 2 models now, time is my biggest enemy right now, the dealership is eating so much of it I can't get out and work on them that much, but I am progressing on all 3. I know I am way behind on them, but I will not release a shock that is not perfect :), they are going to be CRAZY GOOD upgrade!
It shouldn’t. Defenders are brutal. I had one - AC didn’t work from factory after 5 min ride. Pure junk. At least Kawis are built like tanks and backed by a 3 year warranty…. I traded my defender in on a Teryx 4 and haven’t looked back!
You this would awesome with topper and heat and cool down the back ? If i buy one , I 'll fabricate one and put seats in the back for four people with seat belts and roll bar and pop out windows for safety reasons? Just dreaming ✨️ But , almost got myself talked into buying one 😅 THANKS FOR SHARING
CF moto is made in China. It could be 5k dollars difference with Kawasaki but he cant compete unless you don't have the budget. Made in china vs made in japan reliable, lasts way longer. Not even close
The Kawasaki Mule MX is made by Kymco in Taiwan, the CF-Moto Is made in Mexico on the same street as Polaris and Can Am. Also Kawasaki moved the side by side and ATV plant to Mexico. Hope that helps.
@@HesterEdition It's like a nike made in china, it's a nike quality, US quality. China company brand made in Us, china quality. But it helps that I know.
Im debating on a teryx for my next purchase (have had xp1k and xpturbo rzrs in the past) I like the fact that I could buy a cheaper platform and do what I want. So heres my question, you can get a teryx 4 for 14-15k new and a KRX for 25k+ new. If I were to buy a teryx 4 and put 3-5k into it would it be just as capable as a KRX? I do mainly trail riding with large steep and difficult hills that I need ground clearance and wheel travel for. I want it to be completely focused on trails and technical stuff. I feel like the krx and rzrs are also designed for wide open and jumps which im not into and makes them unnecessarily more expensive for things im not going to be using. I also really like the looks of long travel teryxs
@@HesterEdition Awesome, thanks for the response. I feel like its a "downgrade" going with a teryx over a rzr or krx. but with your kit i think its an upgrade. haha and at a much more reasonable price.
@@HesterEdition I hate to keep bugging you, but aside from speed what are you losing with the 'flag ship' models. XP KRX etc. Does the 4 link rear suspension help with trail riding? Or is that better for jumps and high speed? I think one thing i prefer about them is the seating positions are more "in" the sxs instead of "on" the sxs if that makes sense. lol once again sorry for all the questions. Probably going to buy a T4 in the next couple months and just want to make sure im not disapointed coming from an xp1k and xp turbo.
I know I'm a year late to this video but, yes my 23 950 feels like it teeters in the middle on the corners letting the outsde tires rail. Something my old 15 RZR never did, and that one didn't come with the front sway bar. I'll have to check your's out for sure.
For sure, the stock shocks are made so terrible, our Hester Edition Elkas are truly night and day! Join our "Hester Edition Elka Suspension Owners" Page on Facebook, there are owner videos on the 950 EX and the owners are blown away with how much better the machine is now. Just call us when ready to get the shocks or dang near anything else for your ride! Tuesday-Saturdays (575) 445-3558
Very nice machine. However, I was very suspicious about the noise in the cab at 30mph and onward. And it's confirmed it's much louder then my Can Am Defender Limited so I am happy with my decision. I have owned Kawis in the past and was hoping to get a ridge.
No SXS will ever be "car" quiet, I mean it is on off-road vehicle, BUT, everyone's perception of "quiet" is different, This thing at 60 sounds like my Teryx driving 10mph, to me, this thing is pretty dang quiet, but this is why we also tell customers to drive them and see for themselves. :)
No SXS will ever be "car" quiet, I mean it is on off-road vehicle, BUT, everyone's perception of "quiet" is different, This thing at 60 sounds like my Teryx driving 10mph, to me, this thing is pretty dang quiet, but this is why we also tell customers to drive them and see for themselves. :)
@@HesterEdition Absolutely, can't agree more, DRIVE one, might be totally acceptable for you. I ended up buying a Ranger last week because it was considerably quieter at speeds over 35.... my wife and 9 month old ride with me regularly, so I wanted to be able to have conversation on the road. Thanks for the excellent review by the way. I still think the Ridge is a very nice machine, just not for me. Looking forward to more reviews on it.
We have several videos on the Teryx's, also join our owners page to hear from many owners as well. They are night and day compared to stock 😁 facebook.com/groups/hestereditionelkaowners/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT
You have a point, I ain't gunna lie! This is meant to be the "accessorized" unit from the manufacture and would think they would have thrown the book at it. But I think they guessed a rear-view mirror and front and rear cameras would have been enough.
Should come with a lot more for that money Better mileage higher speed limit Quieter better interior better tires longer lasting Man we can critic a lot You can buy a jeep for about the same price
@@gabrielrocha560 It is governed at 75mph, how much faster do you want to go? lol. There are a few vehicles that meet your criteria, but they are not in this price range, more like 45k+. Once you cross that HVAC line, that is where the money is dumped, you can get a non-HVAC for over 10k less. Then build it how YOU want it.
The seat is too tall. I am 5'7 and my feet would not touch the floor. The front bumper is very flimsy. The rear tailgate is very flimsy. That is just what I noticed. Love the 4 cylinder engine though.
The seat is 19" front floor to top of seat bottom, same as a Teryx, and MX mid size mule, and a CFMoto U-Force 1000 as comparison, it is slightly lower than a mule 1000 FXT which is 20". I am 6 ft with 36" inseam and my legs have lots of room, but are well bent. My wife drove one of the ridge and she is 5'2" with real short legs and her feat were not dangling, but not as flat planted as mine. We have a Teryx-4 (same seat height as mentioned) and she has never complained. The seat base is about 2" thick and is plush.
@@HesterEdition I have a 2017 mule pro fx Ranch edition and the seat height on it is perfect. I sat in a new Ridge Ranch, and the seat was way taller. The glove box wouldn't stay latched on it and another Ridge Ranch that I was in was the same way.
@timdavison2417 I covered that well on the long uncut video on the ranch Edition video too, yes needs reinforcement to stop from flexing. I measured the seats on new units on the floor to get those numbers, the ridge might feel like a taller seat but the pro F mule does have a longer distance from the floor to the top of the seat base "slightly". But I did measure a ranch Edition mule which does have the thicker seat, a non-ranch (did not have on the floor) is thinner.
I hate all the color schemes for them. I bought a new 2024 green mile pro mx a couple months ago and was thinking about waiting for one of these but then saw how ugly the colors are. I figure in a couple years I may buy one if they come out with new colors. My rule is to wait a couple years after something new comes out anyways. We have learned that new models always have some unforeseen issues on any vehicle.
@mrwhamisrick for the limited yes, but there are several trim levels and colors to pick from, meaning you can select a different hvac or non-hvac machine and build what you want out of it... OR you can pic the one you want, change plastics color or wrap it to what you want, customization is beautiful. Make it your own. There are several hvac models in 2 HP levels, all the rest is add ons. The limited it just a standard hvac, and the accessories book tossed at it from the factory.
Having this video makes it so easy to see exactly what you need to do.! The best part of it for me, is that I'm getting the Stage 3 Hester Elka's and don't have to do this. 😁😊
As far as the stock rims aren't they different widths for the front and rear therefore if you used the same width tire front and rear the actual tire sizes would be off? I haven't seen a squared set up from the factory for the little Mules. Thanks...
They are wider wheels in the rear, but as you can see in the video, nothing you can tell, you run different tire pressures F to R. so this has 9psi from and 11psi rear, your pressure may very based on your use and loads.
@@HillsideAcres We send to you tube to see the stages to pick from, then you call us OR message us on facebook in you wish, there are 6 price structures, now that you know the stages you want prices on just give us a call Tuesday-Friday (575) 445-3558. We can get you prices and get you rolling on the set you choose :)
Cf moto is a great machine for the price. Can am differences is strictly performance. The drive is faster, smoother, better steering. You can’t go wrong with any side x side. Besides a Polaris don’t buy that garbage 😂
as far as outright performance the U-Force has impressive torque and get up and go, the owner of the Defender would not let us run them so I can no prove which is faster. I will say the throttling of the defender BOX STOCK, is much smoother but feels disconnected, as in you punch it and then you feel the throttle servo's opening up a couple seconds later. I get why they do it and it's all about use of power, and the uforce is very snappy and we do a lot of clutch kits to ton down the snappiness. Once again bone stock the ride quality win would be the defender, but it's not THAT much better, just add a set of our Hester Edition Elkas to the U-Force with the vast amount of savings and hands down the U-Force is in another world of ride quuality over the Defender, till you add our Shocks to the defender lol. It is a kind of back and forth battle, neither one wins hands down over the other, it's little battle wins back and forth, but when you lay your hard earned money, that is a HUGE chunk in price tag, and you can build one SUPER nice U-Force for a box stock XT Defender. And with good maintenance on either one, they will last thousands of miles and years of service. I really wish I could have done a FULL review and shown the driving, performance and talk about the throttle more.
I'm considering to get one of these as a run around. Needs to be able to run into town to get diesel 50mph for 10 miles or so. And spray at 3 miles per hour. I'm considering just putting some 33s on it to lower the cruising rpm.
This video has made up my mind to get it. I'll be calling tomorrow. I have 16" of clearance on mine now. is there way to get more? I would like to get it up to 20" or close to it.
If you are wanting to go that high, we have many set ups to achieve that, but it will not be a standard Long travel build, give us a call and we can go over that with you and help you build what YOU wish.
@@HesterEdition Hester is the man!! They have the best setup. and the most knowledge of anyone.! I can't wait to get my Hester long travel kit and Elka stage 3 shocks. Hester Elka shocks are the best thing you can get for your ride. I can't wait until my kit arrives.
@@HesterEditiononly front and back on the XR....the others don't have front locking diff.... I almost bought the ranch but found out there's no front locking diff
For the "S" model we build all 5 stages of JUST shocks, If you want the MT Long travel yes it can be made to fit the S, but you do have to relocate the Rear upper shock mount to where a non-S is and the correct tie rod parts. We have all that info as well. This build has the chain of videos in the description. Just give us a call and we can go over your parts needed and wanted. Many options to select from to build YOUR set up. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_fZBN4UbZCE.html
Stage is 100% your wish on how much is on the shock, a stage 1 is a huge upgrade, if you want to fine tune ride and performance, that will be higher stages. Let us know! We will get you rolling at a great price! Tuesday-Saturdays (575) 445-3558
I would have put the spare tire on a swing type gate. That way, you have access to the entire bed. I love the teryx 4. Hopefully be able to get one on the next year.
Yes! We will be doing videos and letting everyone know here for sure! We are trying our best to provide the MOST information on our products than anyone :) During testing on the TRAIL shocks we ran into some issues I was not happy with and Elka is working on getting me the updates for testing to keep going. The dealership is taking up a lot of my time and I have been limited on testing so taking longer then I had hopped, Wish I could sell the dealership just to do the suspension business. Thank you for watching, but YES, we will be doing videos on all the new shocks down the pipe.!
I had the noam nut5-s ( 2- towers & 1 sub ) Now I have the noam quad texas edition ( 4-towers, 2-subs,& 2 amps ) and it is way better bass and really loud.
I don’t understand why manufacturers like Kawasaki would launch a ground breaking 4 cylinder Utv and not have beefy an arms and good suspension, if you’re going to create a new product then upgrade everything right from the start. Quality suspension is always top priority for customers, spending over $23,000 only to upgrade your machine is a dealbreaker for me
All valid points, and we all wish manufacturers listened more to the owners, we agree, for the price point, we should have a better suspension, and the sad part is, the price the stock shocks are, you can almost get stage 3s of ours, and the stage 1s would flat blow them out of the water. Someone is getting rich on those shocks, because no way no how they should retail for $5-600 each!
