Peter, pulsing in a brake lever is a pretty sure sign that your ABS has activated OR you have a warped disc, which with your mileage as low as it is would be highly improbable. You can get to "lock up" on the rear wheel on this bike surprisingly easy, thus actuating your ABS.
This bike is very similar to the ZX12 I had prior to in a lot of ways, with the rear brake feel and actuation all feeling perfectly "normal" to me. In comparison to my KLR650, as one example, you could rate the C14's rear brake feel as "anemic". My brother hopped of a YAmaha FZ1 onto a C14 and was constantly annoyed by the rear brake so he adjusted the brake pedal position so it was one "cog" higher and that has suited him well.
As for oil, you're gonna find as many opinions about this as there are gasholes, and I've used the "bad" Mobil 1 (yep, the energy conserving label one) in many previous wet clutch bikes without even a hint of clutch issues, the last bike turning 20k+ on the odo when I sold it. It's still on it's original clutch.
You're gonna find a lot of "the sky is falling" mentality on this and other forums like it. Goes with the territory. Just turn on your BS filter to "11" and you'll do fine with the plethora of good info on this site (especially).