Sorry for the confusion. Yor are correct the handle is on the left side. When I replied I was describing the handle location looking aft not forward. -alw In a message dated 5/13/2003 12:36:28 AM Eastern Standard Time, Wilsometer writes:

hen I read this, I was perplexed. I just looked at a 2003 Yamaha 4hp/4-stroke this past weekend, and I could have sworn that it had the control handle on the left side. I went to the Yamaha website, and sure enough, there is a photo of both the 2.5 and 4 with left handles: