Yes, locking the front wheel at any time is a no-no....
Unfortunately I found that out the hard way myself. (Not that I didn't already know...)
I was exiting the turnpike, going through the Change Provided lane, with my sunpass... I was going about 25 when suddenly I noticed the gate arm in front of me!
Now, it probably would have gone up in time, but since I hadn't seen it, it surprised me.
It literally "appeared" in front of me!
I must have been daydreaming or otherwise distracted. I had gone through the very same gate earlier that day! That's why I say that it probably was about to go up....
Anyway, I didn't think - I reacted... grabbed a handful of both brakes. I believe this would have been fine under normal circumstances, but it's usually a bit slicker at toll booths. The pavement wasn't greasy, but it was grooved, and there may have been a little broken glass or gravel...
At about 5 mph, the front wheel locked - the wheel turned full left instantly, and I basically "fell over" to my right.
This is where it almost gets comical... there was a concrete wall there, and I basically fell over into it, my helmet hit - not that hard - but just hard enough to go "doonk!" My right arm also hit the wall - thankfully I was wearing a heavy leather jacket! (Which I was not wearing on the first trip)
End result? About $200 in damage to the right side. It didn't go over all the way, so I was able to pick it back up alone.
Lessons learned:
Always wear protective gear!!! (Those MSF guys were right!!)
-- I'm sure that if I didn't have that jacket on, my arm would have been at least scraped, or possibly shredded. No need to talk about what would have happened to my head without a helmet.....
Pay attention! You cannot afford to be distracted for one second when on a bike!
Here are some pictures:
This last one is about 76k, so I'll link to it instead...
http://www.pray4kids.com/graphics/scoot_ouch_2.jpg
Fortunately, the damage is not visible unless you bend down, because it's on the downside of the bodywork...
And I didn't even have 3000 miles on it yet...
Kenny