Questions about 6hp Suzuki Two Stroke Outboard, Problems??

Im pretty new to small outboards and manual starts and things of that nature. So I just bought a 2002 (?? not sure of the year exactly, but its either late 90's or early 2000's) Suzuki 6hp two stroke for my gheenoe from a friend. He took it and got it serviced before selling it, new plugs, rebuilt carb, ect. When i got it back at first it cranked first pull every time without even choking it. Now I can't get it to start without choking it after it cools down from use. After the initial start, the motor cranks up first pull without choking, i.e., I go for a little while, shut down the motor, fish, 10-15 minutes later I go to crank it and it turns right over, first pull, no choke, no hassle.

Is this normal?

Could I just be over-priming it or could it be something more sinister??

Once or twice I forgot to open the valve on the tank, but corrected it very shortly after, could this ruin the motor by causing it to run too lean? I use a 75:1 ratio as per the previous owner's instruction, the manual says 100:1 but the previous owner said it runs better 75:1.

Could this choking issue become a larger issue down the road?

Also, When I was taking the motor out of my trunk once, i tripped over my trailer tounge and fell over with the motor in my hands into some dirt, could this seriously damage the motor?

I do NOT want to find out the hard way that I had messed up my motor and this was a symptom of a bigger problem. I'd prefer not to get stranded in a remote location. Sorry about the 21 questions, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Thanks!

 

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Thanks so much for the welcomes and the replies! I went out today and dropped her in a bucket and cranked her up, priming slightly less than I have been, no choke, first pull fired right up! I guess I've been over-priming a little bit lately? At least I know now that having to choke a cold motor doesn't mean there's something wrong with it. I'm learning a lot about all this stuff, as I'm very very new to it. I'll probably be posting quite a bit with all the new questions I have and info I'm trying to absorb so I really appreciate it.

 

I had a new problem today when I took it out...

I was idling along in gear at the very lowest throttle setting, after 5 or so minutes of that, the engine just shut off and did not seem to want to come back on. It sputtered to life a couple of times and then would shut down. After a while, I finally got her kicked up after squeezing the primer bulb and choking and off we went. I shut her down again, fished more, kicked her back up like nothing ever happened. Is this normal??