So, Niner, check this out -- I go into my garage, close the little drain valve, pull the cord gently once. Just for laughs, I then pulled it hard. Started right up -- no priming, no nothing. I am totally confused.
By the way, in case other struggling and ignorant Honda generator owners are reading this, someone on this forum once gave me a great tip -- when you are getting ready to really pull the cord, pull it out very slowly till you can feel that it has grabbed onto some internal gear or mechanism. Don't just pull the handle straight out of the red plastic body of the generator. Wait till it engages. Not sure what is engaging with what, but you can feel it, and the starter works a lot better when you first slowly pull out the slack.
(And my guess is that some more knowledgeable person is just about to tell us what that grabbing sensation is all about!)
