GPX250 Clutch switch - wot's it do?

Can anyone tell me what the small switch does that's activated/deactivated when the clutch lever is pulled in/released? It sits underneath the clutch cable, and has a ~12-15mm post sticking out of it....

I broke the little switch off whilst replacing the clutch lever and need to know what it does (i.e. can I ride without it or will it do summin to make the bike not start, run, etc).

Cheers

its all a part of the "interlock" scheme of things.
i.e. you can engage a gear with the sidestand down, as long as the clutch is in. So with the clutch in you can start it in first or in any gear. But if you've got the sidestand down it'll cut out as soon as you reliease the clutch.

Mike, thanks for the info. I suspected it was something like that, but seeing as we started the bike AND changed gears, we thought it was broken before I stuffed it....then I realised we were on the centre-stand all day!

Another one solved!