Avids are wierd Mark, they sort of have two stages of bedding in. For the first few days they're absolute shite, then after bedding in (muddy water, brake scrub, etc) they get super grabby, as in locks harder than any magura. After about a month they should start to lose just enough of that bite and get the modulation back.
As for the lever pull length, you really just need to play around with the barrell adjusters on the lever and the red adjusters on the caliper until you get it how you like it. But a decent set of cables (nothing flash, I'm running well maintained deore cables and jackets) and a good lever (XTR, XT, not nuts over the avids, but meh...) are two very good starting points.
Hope that helps.
Rich