How do you remove a lawn mower's governor?

The easiest way is to just locate the throttle shaft (not the choke shaft!) and unclip any rods, links, or springs. You'll have to rig up a way to manually control the throttle plate, because the speed control adjuster (the turtle/rabbit thing) works on the governor spring, not the throttle itself. Also, defeating the governor mechanism is a great way to destroy the engine!