Your system is what I like to do when I get hold of an engine or mower I like Rob: make myself comfortable with it. For me, that means going over the external adjustments and getting a feel for how much work it's done and how well it's been cared for. One thing that annoys me with Hondas is at least on the older ones, the carburetor insulator gaskets always split, and they cost a couple of dollars each, so I tend to hope I won't have to remove the carburetor. However if I find the cooling fins are full of grass or there's water or sediment in the float bowl, the choke isn't closing, the spark plug gap is wrong, the oil is dirty, or there's garbage in the bottom of the fuel tank, I have to break out the spanners and do it your way.
On Hondas, the best I can hope for is that the carburetor has never been touched, because everything amateurs do to them is for the worse.
I know you are usually working on mowers that belong to someone else, and you therefore make sure they are returned well set up for the long haul Rob. It's only possible to do it that way because you enjoy the work and don't charge much: no mower shop could approach a mower tidy-up job the way you do, because the customers wouldn't be prepared to pay what they'd charge. Your customers are very fortunate.
