I know 4-strokes can be nasty to hand start but that's exactly what I did with my new Saito 100. I have a HD leather guard which slips over my index and middle fingers. I was able to hand start my brand new engine very easily. I just prime it by closing off the muffler outlet with my thumb, turn the engine through one or two compression strokes then back flip the prop against the compression.

Now, with a couple of tanks of fuel through it, it had noticeably more bounce to the compression stroke. I was careful to run it EXACTLY per Saito's break-in instructions.