My daugter and I went for an ice cream this afternoon and decided to take the bike. Traveling along we came to a stop light. It was green but the traffic opposing lane was backed up. Some knucklehead in the other lane waved a guy who was trying to make a left turn into my lane from a gas station right infront of me. I hit the front brakes hard and locked up the rear wheel. Stopped about a foot from the passenger door of the car. Thinking back I should have flipped up my visor, leaned in and gave the woman in the passengers seat a kiss. LOL I was surprised how easy my 650 handled even with the rear tire locked. It never felt out of control.

I locked my rear wheel up yesterday afternoon doing about 60Mph. At first I thought I had lost it and I was going to be thrown off, but I just kept the front wheels straight and got it to a grinding halt. Glad you and your daughter are safe! Kiss that woman, then slap the crap outa that other peroson.

Glad everything was OK. I almost got into an accident yesterday myself so I know how it feels.

As long as you're travelling in a straight line, locking the rear wheel shouldn't really cause any problems, I think.
The last couple of times I've had to stop hard, I've done a stoppie (rear wheel lifting off the ground). I find it hard to lock the rear wheel

It's not a problem if you keep it locked until stopped. If it regains traction and is misaligned from the front, it's going to be pretty harsh.

I find if I grab too much front brake, the rear is much easier to lock. Must be something to do with changing the load on the rear tire under braking.

I find if I grab too much front brake, the rear is much easier to lock. Must be something to do with changing the load on the rear tire under braking.

Unless you're locking it, it's not "too much" front brake ... yes, weight distribution shifts (during braking) and as it shifts towards the front the rear becomes lighter and rr brake will lock up easier/faster.
Much as you can (and should) increase the braking force in the front as the weight shifts there, you should decrease the braking force in the rear.

Keith Code and Lee Parks say similar things... basically after 15 feet of very hard braking, the rear brake becomes useless... as it is either off the ground, or so little weight that it will lock with the slightest pressure. This is more so with super sports, but I have had no problem lifting the rear under emergency braking situations in traffic while at highway speeds.