Originally Posted by pranay

Forks/Springs being softer mean that the they 'suppress/depress' more. If a bike with such a setup hits corners you will get less 'feedback'. Feedback in the sense the feel of the front and back end on the bike sticking on the road because you will be bouncing around all the time. This will mean lesser control over the corners.

A stiffer spring setup will give you more feedback. Which in turn, will give you a better response during the turns. There are more aspects than just springs which effect bike's handling, but if you take just the springs, then this is basicallty what it is.

Simple eg:-
Take a straw and try to draw a circle in sand. Take a wooden stick and do the same. Which one will draw a better circle?

In terms of road comfort, you would ideally want softer forks/springs (opp of what you would want above). A softer fork/spring would depress easier so in case of a bump or a pothole, you would get less 'feedback' from the road, making you not groan everytime you go over uneven surfaces. A stiffer fork/spring would depress lesser so the vice-versa would happen.

Simple eg:-
Take the same straw and press it over the surface ground and keep going for a hundred meters or so. Take the wooden stick and do the same. After which one would you feel a bit weary on your wrists?

Bikes would like to have an ideal compromise between these two. There are mechanisms which bridge the gap between these two as well nowadays. (The R15 has a varying dampening system, with the monoshock stiffening with increase in load)