Brand new Honda HRR216VKA - Backward Resitance

Hello - I recently bought a Honda HRR216VKA self propelled push mower. This is my first Honda. I noticed a little bit of resistance when pulling it backwards. The belt is not tensioned. It seems like it's geared this way but I wasn't sure. You can hear a gearing type sound when pulling it backwards. Most other mowers I've used are free rolling forwards and backwards but this one is just slightly harder/resistance to pull back. Is this normal? Is this a Honda thing?



thanks,

Don