Joe Tolle
Age: 33
Years involved in the ATV Industry: 12
Profession: Head of product testing for ATV Scene.com
Main Disciplin: Recreation, Motocross, Trail Riding
Relevant Experience: Limited Mule and 2006 Rhino 660 experiences.
Heading into a new model intro, I often go in with a pre conceived notion of what a machine will be like based on the machine’s specifications and intended purpose. The Teryx was nearly exactly what I expected and the machine did not disappoint.
Yes the Tery will fit in the back of your truck.
When cold the Teryx fires right up and warms quickly. Under acceleration the 750 V-twin pulls harder throughout the rpm range than the old Rhino 660. In the deep sand the motor didn’t feel that impressive. I think this was mostly due to too much air pressure in the tires, which didn’t quite allow the machine to plane out on top the sand. On fire roads and hard surfaces, the motor felt much more impressive. There was plenty enough torque for rock climbing and there was enough midrange horsepower to bring the rear end around on the fast twisty canyon trails, even with Brad Phillips and my 250lb butt on board.
Out on the trail I made the mistake of calling Brad a few insulting names for avoiding some of the rougher whoop sections. For the rest of the morning ride I paid the price in a good way! Not only did we cruise the rougher side of the trials, he kept the hammer down in the fast sections. I was surprised how fast we drove into and out of turns. When accelerating hard into turns the rear end would actually begin to break loose and slide. At nearly 50mph and within a few feet of some pretty intimidating boulders and cacti, I kept expecting the rear end to hook up and send us on our lids, but it never happened! Although the Teryx isn’t that dimensionally different than the other machines in its class, it is without a doubt very impressively stable in the turns.
Will the Terx flip over? Yep, but thanks to a good design it's not easy to flip it. You'll need to be just as hardcore and reckless as we were in testing the impressive Kawasaki.
In the suspension department I liked the Teryx more than Brad. Although it wasn’t as plush as the Rhino 660, it seemed to make up for it by having decent bottoming resistance, although we did manage to push the suspension to its limits on more than one occasion. Through the whoops the suspension seemed to work pretty well. We did manage to get the machine swapping a few times, but were always able to bring it right back in line. When we did bottom the shocks it was usually from a deep whoop that was much larger than expected. Overall the suspension is pretty sporty and should do a good job for utilitarian purposes. But with the motor on tap and its impressive cornering capabilities, the suspension is the weakest link when it comes to pushing the machine to its limits. Add a set of aftermarket shocks and even without wider A-arms, this would be a decent go fast trail machine.
On our all day adventure hammering through the desert I as nearly beaten to a pulp since Brad only knows two speeds, stop and full throttle. Fortunately, the cockpit was pretty spacious. I never found myself bumping shoulders with Brad and the two handles on the right front and upper frame rails made it easier to hold on for my dear life. While the seats were decently comfortable the seat belt’s shoulder strap wasn’t. In the rough stuff it digs into your shoulder and collar bone. Most of the time I took the shoulder strap off, but kept the lap belt on. If I had one of these bad boys, I would order a set of five point harnesses the day I ordered my aftermarket shocks. They would be much more comfortable and offer greater safety.
Overall I came away quite impressed with the Teryx. Despite a minor stalling issue, it exceeded my expectations in almost every way. The balance of speed, handling, and suspension were nearly perfect, highlighted by its exceptional steering and turning ability. Yeah, it can do the chores, but it doesn’t seem to give up much in the way of sporting form to gain its utilitarian function. So yeah, without a doubt, I liked it.
