1. your riding style may not suit others(you admit you like it more plush than others), it would have been better if there were multiple riders with input. But given the time limit, it's not solely your fault. I ride my bike with almost all compression on, so who knows. There are people in this thread that shared the same outlook of the harsheness, but it seems that they consist mostly of people who were on demo bikes. One person who actually owned it for a long time seems to differ in opinion.
Couple of things to consider here:
1. Every reviewer has biases. As long as they are stated, then readers know whether to accept or reject the review based on how their own biases compare to the reviewer's.
2. It seems that a reasonable person wouldn't buy a bike that felt like poo during a demo ride (although apparently at least one did). That explains to my satisfaction why the people who thought the bike felt harsh didn't have any long term experience on it.
3. Harshness may be a problem, but what were some real factual timed result?
Racecars are harsh to ride, they're very uncomfortable, but obviously they perform. How did the turner perform?
Perhaps next time, since you own time laps(sp?), or some of your friends do.
This makes sense to me. I can't speak for the reviewer, but suspect we would have seen some lap times if he'd had the bike longer.
I liked the review. The DHR wasn't a bike I was in the market for before, though, so I have no emotional investment. Just an interested spectator.
Edit: me type slow. Looks like there might be an opportunity to see a longer-term test. Cool!