Front brake lever replacement

I replaced the (bent) front brake lever due to a small tipover in the garage. Now, after about 20 mile ride the front brakes are dragging. I believe this is because the new lever is not exactly the same as the OEM lever (Parts Unlimited lever from Dennis Kirk). Can I solve this problem by rebleeding the brakes so the master cylinder can accomodate the new lever? Or do I have another problem? I replaced the front brake lines and bled the system a few months ago and they worked fine, using the old lever of course. Thanks for the help.

Does the new lever have some free play? It should not make contact with the MC plunger (?). If there is no free play, take off the lever and file off a bit of material where the lever contacts the master cylinder, to give it some free play.

Very slight freeplay. I was thinking about shaving off some material but I wanted to get some input first. I bought two so I guess I can experiment with one. Thanks for the tip.

road_rascal wrote:

Very slight freeplay....

Slight freeplay should be just right. Additional freeplay won't help as master cylinder piston is already in fully relaxed position.

Before filing anything, suggest checking for brake drag with lever removed.

The front brakes do not drag at all with the lever removed (and they don't drag with the old lever either). One thing I did notice with the new lever is that the rear brake light stays on because the brake light switch extends too far with the new lever. Is there a way to adjust that switch? I may have to figure out a way decrease the gap between the lever and the switch. I'll probably end up having to buy a stock (read $$$OEM) lever.