I think perhaps you've been unlucky with a defective key. This is the second bike I've had with the flick-out style key, and having done in the order of about 32,000 miles combined I've never had an issue.
I had to find a specialist key cutting company so needed to travel and wait for the keys - 5 hour round trip especially when the town you need to visit has 20 mph zones throughout. I live a long way from the nearest dealership.
Pretty sure I ordered one off eBay. Sent them a photo and they cut it and post it out. The master key never leaves my pocket and the one I had cut is used for petrol and panniers.
