Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): 13 hp honda, hard pull start, honda 4 stroke, hp honda

Question
Eric,
I am working on a piece of equipment with a 13 hp honda 4 stroke engine. The pull start is so hard to pull it's dangerous. Here is the weird part... Take the spark plug out,  still hard to pull.  Squirt some wd-40 down in the cylinder,  spins easy.  After it starts and is shut off, same thing.  I'm thinking out of round cylider?
What do you think?
Thanks,
Bob

Answer
When we have an engine with the same symtoms we start by removing each external part and pulling the string each time to ensure nothing is binding or rubbing.

After all the external parts are off and the engine is still hard to pull then we start disassembling the engine.  We start with the head and work down until we find the problem.

So, take is apart and see if something is rubbing or binding.

Let me know what you find.
Eric