Help...Too much brake drag after reinstalling front tire

[The ModFather]

Its a new bike for me so I may have been riding the brakes a bit hard. Thats all I can think of.

[Howie]

The OEM rear pads on my bike lasted 12K,  The EBC HH on my bike have 30 someodd K and are only half worn.

[The ModFather]

Yeah kind of weird. The change was removing the rear wheel for a tire change. I did ride before the tire change and there was a noticable difference in the rear tire braking after the tire change. I had to push all the way down to get any stopping power. I noticed right away as soon as I pulled out of the driveway. I figured it was probably just due to the brake fluid not being in its normal state yet and that it would normalize after a little braking but it didnt and the overall effect was I scraped up my rotors. My question is if my pads were worn out before the tire change why did my rear braking seem normal. How did a rear tire change make it so noticable or exacerbate this. Why didnt it scrape on the ride before the tire change. I'm hesitant to blame this all on the worn pads because otherwise I would've scraped the rotors before the tire change. What'dya think?

[Slide Panda]

You're possibly trying to tie unrelated events together that just happen to fall at coincidental points in time.

You might have had a bit of pad material left around the time of the change - just a tiny bit that you've since killed off. You've worn them to the carrier plate, but just barely so it only happened recently or your rotor would be even more make the beast with two backsed.

I mean no offense - but you seem to be in over your head at this point. We lear though mistakes, but perhaps you want to get a more experienced buddy or a take the bike to a shop that's willing to spend a little more time walking you through the issues.

[The ModFather]

Yep its a learning process alright. At this point I was just planning on putting on a new Rotor for the rear and new pads front and back. Seems fairly straight forward and theres a decent How-To with pics for EBC Rotor and Pads on this site. Any Gotcha's to this process I should watch for? Is this not as simple as it seems?

[Slide Panda]

it is pretty simple - one thing that people skip on is cleaning. Be sure to give the pads and a new rotor a swipe with brake cleaner. Take a stiff plastic or (very) soft metal brush to the caliper - including the retaining pin and spring.

Don't rush and ensure everything is lined up correct when you reassemble.

[The ModFather]

  Thanks!

[Ak1nza]

Don't forget that you'll need to bed your new brake pads when you install them.  There are different ways to do this so do a search but here's one:

"Initially, the brakes should be used lightly (roughly 60-70% of normal) but frequently. As you feel the brakes come in, follow this with progressively harder braking to maximum pressure with momentary cool-down between applications.  The goal here is to impart an even transfer film layer from the new friction material to the operating surface of the rotor.  Do not try braking hard until they do and you are reasonably certain this is accomplished."

[The ModFather]

Thanks for this information. I was not aware.

[seevtsaab]

I would recommend completing the rear brake r&r and confirm you're happy with the performance before doing the fronts. Give the rears a good workout. Not that they'll ever give much stopping power but you want to be sure
everything is OK - be mindful that excessive sticking / rubbing can boil the fluid and lock the brake.

[The ModFather]

Also a great point I should've thought of this. As an engineer you never introduce multiple variables at the same time yet I was about to do both at the same time which I would never do at work. Thanks again!