I had the same problem when I bought my Savage.  The clutch lever hit the friction zone at the end of my finger tips.  I had to either pull it back in or just let go.  No in between.  Unfortunatly I can't tell you how to fix it but I know that it can be done.  It was the first thing that I addressed with the mechanic when I took the bike in for it's first service.  He adjusted it so that I now hit the fiction zone "mid finger" giving me plenty of room to work the clutch.