I’ve just Bought a fitted some XT M785 disc brakes but they seem to have loads of free ‘ emptiness ‘ between the lever in a relaxed state and when on..
I like to ride with a finger covering the lever and then pull to engage ( obviously) .. but on these if I use the reach adjust to put the lever where I like it it touches the grip when engaged…

Am I having a blond moment here..?

Probably need a bleed

Open reach all the way out, open free stroke to fully out and bleed.
Then take the reach in to where you like it and wind the free stroke in until you have the bite point you want.

Can I bleed without having oil to hand?

Just take the wheels out and give the levers a pull or two. That’ll bring the pads closer and give a good lever feel. I’ve had to do that will all the shinano brakes I’ve fitted. Shouldn’t be a need to bleed new brakes.

@ bikeneil …I’ll give that a go and see how I get on..

Had similar issues this week –

Bleeding SLX brakes

Following instructions to the letter and tap tap tapping all the air out properly, and I’m back in the game.

Haven’t tried all these special methods, but does seem these servo wave levers have a lot of free space as you say, maybe takes some getting used to and I can see why it’s a benefit for pad clearance but not so useful if you can’t operate them before hitting the bars, so may need to try respacing the pads part out.

Can I bleed without having oil to hand?

And there is a reason why some folk shouldn’t be buying online… 🙄