I have two challenges... shifting down and checking the oil level

[Inhouse Bob]

Thanks all.
I will review my manual for the sight-glass cleaning procedure, which I was unaware of. What will they come up with next?
I'm at 594 miles, so I suppose it is almost time for the 600 mile oil change That might well make everything clearer, so to speak.
As for the transmission, I will wait a few more miles before cursing the bike again. One of those add-on gear indicators would do me a lot of good, too, I suppose. I often find I am in a higher gear when stopping than I thought. By the time I figure it out, I'm stopped and annoyed again. Counting from one to five isn't so hard... it's the counting from five to one that is the tricky part
Now, I gotta go review me some oil threads

Avoiding that just comes from years of habit. When I am coming to a stop, I downshift a gear, release the clutch, and let engine compression do some of the work of slowing the bike. Do this for each lower gear, one by one, and by the time you reach the stop, you are in first. Normal stops are a combination of front brake and rear wheel engine compression (no rear brake).

Panic stops, my left foot is as well trained as my right foot and hands. Muscle memory instinctively goes for the brakes, clutch, AND shifter. At the end of that panic stop may very well be the need to make an aggressive move to get out of the way, and you darn well better be in the right gear to do so! Leaving transmission duties to an after stop afterthought is not good practice.

Yup, I do work through the gears on slowing, whether a fast stop or easy, but sometimes I just don't get all the way there. Practice makes perfect!

So you have a 13 5 speed? This may help

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=202

Thanks Ferret. I spent the last hour working through that most excellent thread. With this bike, as with most others, it generally comes down to, "Just trust the manual and ride."