as easy as it is to replace, I would rather carry an extra spring vs a bunch of bungee cords. though, admittedly, bungee cords could come in handy for something else as well.
the big thing is that people don't read the manual on how to replace it. they'll try all sorts of tricks, ranging from brake spring tools, to pennies, to vice grips. personally, I tried the vice grips. after punching myself in the nose (that hurt like a sumbitch!!!!) I read the manual. next time I had to replace a spring, I did it the way they said in the manual. had a buddy hold my bike up for me, and had the old spring off and new one on in less than 5 minutes. sometimes these hd engineers really do know what they are talking about