Finally got round to replacing the spring which was only a couple of quid from the stealers. The old one was still in tact but the whole assembly came off with the cover so I don't know if it had somehow become detached. Having replaced it gear changes are a lot more positive and the gear lever is a lot less sloppy. I also believe that there is less rattle when in idle switching between clutch in and clutch out, but that's only after a single test ride.
I had bought two springs with the intention of possibly fitting both as I'm sure I had read that this had been done before but on inspection this would require enlarging the retaining hole on the mechanism which I wouldn't want to do in case it weakened it, so the second spring has been passed on to a good home.
