Alrighty, so I've got 2 rides clocked on the bike now. Initial thoughts match the demo, the bike becomes more stable the harder you push it (it's the only time that pinkbike cliche has been applicable to a bike I've ridden) and as a rider you feel very centralised on the bike. On the second ride I switched back to a 40mm stem, it seems to have far more 'normal' steering tendencies as opposed to the 60mm which had some weird leverage sensations when pushing on the front end.
The bike is absolutely killer on rough and demanding trails, and as I mentioned in the demo, once set into a turn it rails hard. There seems to be a decent amount of anti squat worked into the linkage too, so when you're really pushing on it the whole rear end stiffens up and the bike rockets. The only learning curve with the bike so far is that it requires a slight preload of the rear end to change direction abruptly when you're trucking through a section (this will shorten the chain stays). I guess it's the reaction to the rearward axle path and resulting stability.
The Manitou fork has totally impressed me, especially considering its asking price. The action is smooth and consistent, albeit slightly under damped (will re shim this in the near future). The 34mm stanchions seem to hold up reasonably well too in terms of stiffness. Not quite on par with Lyriks, but pretty close. That's understandable though, the grip and resulting torsional loads that the XR5 tyres generate is pretty impressive.
Also as a side note to potential buyers, 2.6" is probably too large of a tyre for the rear triangle. I got a little ambitious with my rubber selection and am now paying for it.