I just recently picked up an 08 YZ250f and its a wonderful bike. Despite some bogging issues I think are timing related, there is one problem with the bike that sticks out to me the most. After riding for about an hour, if I turn the bike off, it takes me a very long time to kick back over. Sometimes, If I wait 30 minutes for it to cool down, it will finally turn over. I have this lever on the bike that I have never seen before, the man I bought it from said it was a decompression lever, however after doing research it looks like a hot start lever? I'm not sure if there is even a difference between the two, but I'm wondering which this is, and if its used for hot or cold start? Please see the image attached, thank you for any advice in advance. 
That would be a HOT START lever. Pull that lever when trying to start the bike when the engine is hot.
My 2006 Honda has the same thing over the clutch and I do need to use when stalling on the trail. I’m not sure which years, but I heard that some of the Yamahas need to be in neutral when restarting. Maybe that’s only the fuel injected ones?
Have you checked compression?
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