On my new karate monkey, the brake levers hit the top tube. If i crash its going to be big dent time. Is this common?

yes its common

no it wont damage it, either;
*fit weak brake levers
*run them closer to horisontal to clear the bar (also has handling benifits)
*don’t fully tighten the lever clamps so they can spin in a crash.
*don’t crash, this is my prefered option, and when it fails I’ve never more than taken the paint off my bike.

yes it can really make a mess of your top tube unless you, either;
*fit weak brake levers
*run them closer to horisontal to clear the bar (also has handling benifits)
*don’t fully tighten the lever clamps so they can spin in a crash.

That’s more like it, worth playing around, seen frames written off like that.

Well the choice is either, possibly cack up the handling with a setup you don’t like, or live with it.

Or……..

BMX top tube pad for the fixie-hipster-lost-in-the-woods look!