I got a little info from someone in the know...
First, I'll make sure we are on the same page. Lets call the long shaft that fits in the front cover and has the cutout the "Lifter shaft"
Lets call the short rod that is installed through a bearing in the pressure the "Lifter Rod".
Upon assembly the lifter rod fits into the shaft, and when you pull in on the clutch lever the shaft rotates and pulls on the rod, thereby lifting the pressure plate off of the clutch plates.
In theory, the lifter rod shouldn't spin with the clutch, it is mounted in a bearing. There are two kinds of bearings, an early vs. late setup, but it doesn't really matter which kind you have, either bearing should keep the rod from spinning.
Sometimes the lifter shaft breaks in the very narrow area of the cutout, and upon inspection it looks as if the rod had eaten through it, which shouldn't happen because the rod doesn't spin because its mounted in a bearing.
Someone has discovered that the rod can have runout, ie it isn't straight. If you were to pull it out of the pressure plate and roll it on a known flat surface it would have a wobble to it. This runout may cause the rod to bind the bearing causing the rod to spin and eat at the shaft. How this rod gets into a runout situation is unknown.
If your shaft beaks for sure replace the rod also and check it for runout. You could use a dial indicator for accurate results.
As I mentioned earlier, make sure you have 2 mm freeplay at the clutch lever. It wouldn't hurt to shift into neutral at red lights or if you will be stopped for more than just a moment.
Just some food for thought. I'll bet 99% of the bikes out there are just fine. I inspected mine while I was playing with the lockup clutch and the shaft looked like new. So don't run down to your dealer and beat the poor guy up unless you really have a clutch problem.