This does not surprise me. I bought a B5, not a Continental GT. Having been researching RE for some time, I pretty much knew what I was getting. I also love the looks of the Continental GT, but could not handle the riding position due to medical issues.
I belong to several motorcycle forums, have owned more than 40 bikes, and been riding for more than 40 years. Yet I still do not understand this issue with speed. People buy Ninja 250s/300s as first bikes, and within a month, long before they can even began to approach the capabilities of that bike, they want something faster. They get a 600, which VERY few riders are capable of riding to it's limits, and within a few months, they want something even faster. I have owned bikes so fast that you could only use a small part of the speed they are capable of on the road, making all that speed useless. They were also extremely uncomfortable.
RE is not a common well known brand. And those who do know something about it should also know something about their performance. I don't know why someone familiar with the bikes would assume the GT would be super fast, as it uses basically the same engine as all the other models.
I no longer have any need or desire for a fast bike, and am very happy to ride my Bullet at 60 mph all day. It's a beautiful bike, and is more fun to ride than any Japanese bike I have ever owned.