Jetting is definitely a part of it. Most of the guys I ride with ride huskys (it's common that 8 oout of 10 bikes on any given ride are 00 or 01 huskys), and when they are hard to start it's usually a jetting issue. Mine always starts 1st kick hot or cold. In gear too, when it's hot.
One problem that the 00 models seem to have is the kickstart can get stuck, so it can't easily be pulled around into kicking position. It always happens when there's lots of puddles. What happens is the ball bearing with a spring under it gets crap in it and it seizes. Happened to 3 of us on last sunday's ride. But if you clean out the spring regularly, it's not a problem.
Re length of the lever and compression, it doesn't feel much different the jap bikes I have ridden recently. The position of the lever is different though as Mark says, and may require a different technique, though that same technique seems to also work on the jap bikes :).