i have an 06 gasser and i have a little bit of play but not 1/2 inch, sounds to me like you may need new bearings and bushes and im afraid to say that you are going to have to mess about with them, i take mine apart every month and clean and grease them up so that they dont seize up otherwise its 30 quid down the drain due to low maintenance but its a dead easy job just take them out and ava look would be the best bet i think