I have completed two total yard cuttings(1st one mostly weeds, 2nd one light grass) and 2-3 pine straw pickups so far. In between time I played around cranking the mower every few days to see how many pulls it would take to start. With the warmer weather it only takes 1-2 pulls. In cold weather I believe you can reduce the number of pulls to start by waiting a 2-3 minutes after the first couple of pulls to try again. So far the mower handles well with only one issue so far. The top plastic handle sticks out to the side where it connects over the metal handle bar creating a squared off ridge of about 1/4". Perfect for catching a finger nail when cranking your mower. I know this from the experience of losing about 1/3 of my finger nail, bleeding like a stuck pig for a few minutes, and speaking in some unheard of language.
Worst, afterwards I had to endure my wife, the super hero nurse, insisting on daily bandages with ointments instead of allowing it to just heal on its own. Because of the excessive level of care provided I always try to hide all wounds from my wife. Because I can see this perhaps happening again I may try to eliminate the squared off ridge somehow and I am open to any ideas others may have. Other than that there have been no issues with bagging, speed control, wheel adjustment, fuel tank size, etc. I did try cutting my lawn on the lowest setting and found parts of my yard were not level enough so the mower body would drag. I'll post again after a few more times at bat with the mower to provide anyone looking into purchasing a Honda HRX217 more info on my experience with my HRX217.