The rear brake comes with very soft pads for a number of reasons, and they wear out in short order. Unless you ride very agressively, the front should last at least 3X longer. In any case, you will find a good solution here,

http://www.newspeedmaster.com/html/ebc_brakes.html

Now, a very long time ago, I would have suggested that they may have accidentally gotten a master cylinder for a drum brake and installed it, (drum brake master cylinders have an extra valve that holds some residual pressure on the brake) but I doubt they even make such a thing anymore.

Let's hope there's intelligent life somewhere in space 'cause it's buggar all down here. -- Monte Python