Triumph done mine under warranty, they try'd just the sensor first, like yours flickering or nothing at all..
I did take a look at the plunger before taking it triumph, but the thing was seized in solid could'nt remove it at all, so instead of a "get out of warranty" claim i left it alone, and played dumb..
It took them most of the day to remove it, i know they had to heat it "red hot" to get the thing out..A new one was replaced with a spring aswell, all ok now..What did'nt make sense was the bike was 13months old..:-?