2006 Yamaha 50 2 stroke Hard to shift into Reverse

Hello, I have a new to me 2006 Yamaha 50 2 stroke. Appears to be a freshwater engine. My son and I rebuilt the carbs and installed a new water pump kit, new shift and throttle cables etc.
Motor runs great however it is very hard to shift from Neutral to Reverse, I removed the shift cable and actuated the shift linkage by hand and indeed it is very different shifting from neutral to forward than from neutral to reverse. Going from Neutral to reverse is very tight. Everything seems to be lubed up nicely and nothing is corroded.
Is this normal for these motors or is there something I can do to make it easier to shift into reverse?

Thank you.

Have you changed or at least checked the lower unit lube? If it is new to you a change would be recommended, there's no telling how old the stuff is.

Remove gearcase and recheck shift linkage by hand.