Does anyone know of a way to bring the brake handle a little closer to the grip for people like me with small hands.

I have a Softail and I noticed the brake lever only travels about an inch, but yet it is so far away.  I like to ride with my fingers on the brake handle when in traffic, but it gets really uncomfortable.

 Well there are adjustable levers available.  I have a friend who was involved in an industrial accident and lost a couple of fingers. His issues were most likely more extreme then yours but it took him a very long time to find levers he liked but he did it.  Here's a link to the company that makes his levers  -       www.oberon-performance.co.uk/acatalog/HD_Adjustable_Levers.html They are a british company but they have harley levers. They are a little pricey and the shipping is most likely stiff but he swears by them and they are VERY adjustable.

Kuryakyn makes some standard levers made specificly for small hands..www.phatperformanceparts.com/ProductDetails.asp ;   I'm sure there are others out there. You'll just have to do a little reserch. I'm not sure that any modifications to the stock levers are really going to help but, maybe someone else has done it.
    Good Luck!

Also, I don't want to tell you how to ride but, just for your own info, it's not considered a good idea to ride with your fingers on the brake. It can lead to over/erratic braking in emergency situations causing you to lock up the wheel. It is much better to apply the brakes firmly but smoothly and having your fingers on the brake tends to cause a jerking inconsistent motion. Again not trying to tell you how to ride just letting you know.

I have a friend who takes the brake handles off of his bikes, then he heats them up with a torch and bends them in so that they are closer to the grip because he likes to pull his brake with just his ring and pinky fingers. It works for him I guess but there are tons of hand controls in the aftermarket world.

Yeah front brakes in a fast turn = nasty results, especially when you grab too much brake!

Like wheels said the stock brake handles on a Harley should be pretty easy to reshape with a little heat. If there is a custom shop or fabricator in your area you may just stop in and see if they can reshape those a little for you.

And then like StBobber said there are plenty of after market brake levers available. Problem is unless they are the adjustable type its hard to tell the position by just looking at them when theyre not on the bike. You could take your stock lever with you and hold it up to the new ones and see what works.

Thought I'd add something about reshaping Harley brake levers... friend of mine was moving his Fat Boy around one day in his drive way, I was there watching him struggle with the lumbering pig of a bike and out of no where it just falls over! He turns and looks at me and says something to the effect of why didn't I catch it and my answer, smart ass answer was, well you were right there and figured you had it under control. (funny but not really funny how fast and how hard those softails fall over)

Anywho, it's snapped the front brake lever clean off! As I examined further it looked as if the lever were made of pot metal. Long story short I'd be hesitant or at very least careful with reshaping the Harley brake lever.

Many levers are cast & they will not bend enough for your requirement. Make sure you get some aluminum ones and heat as the others have suggested, then you can find a large assortment of covers to make them look good. Just make SURE, that once bent, you have enough travel to fully engage the brake and /or clutch if you do them both. Too much bend can limit the amount of braking you can achieve, same for the clutch which could lead to other problems such as grinding gears when you shift.

Roland Sands just came out with a set of levers that you can easily adjust for shorter fingers. Not a high price either! They are available now I believe. I'll check at my shop next week.

Hey SST, did you ever get the brake handles changed?