My shift points are usually from 1st to 2nd at 12mph and from 2nd to 3rd at 18mph. This can change depending how you ride, but I am pretty conservative and this is usually where they are. On down grades it will keep you in first and tries to hold back about 8mph. This can go up to 12 or more, but as long as you don't have your foot on the gas it will hold in first gear. It really does try to keep you slow, but it just can't do it without a little brake. I really don't see the MT being much advantage with the 3 speed trans. My opinion of course.
Sounds EXACTLY like my previous Honda Rincon with maybe a little higher shift between 2nd and 3rd but honestly that only happened when I drove on the road and I usually wasn't paying attention to the shift points instead of watching for cars.
However, since usually ran around 25 MPH, it would usually shift a little bit before I hit my "cruising speed".
Hitting 12-13 MPH going down the hill behind my house without the brakes was my primary reason for going with the P1000 instead of the P700.
The time I found the ESP useful on the Rincon was in climbing steep hills around the bluffs. If I didn't put it in ESP and hold it in 1st gear it would sometimes want to jump back and forth between 1st and 2nd at inappropriate times. I don't like that when I am driving up a hill. Otherwise I never used it other than just playing around.
The 5 gear transmission on my wife's Recon was a much more useful range of gearing.
