Idler gear question

[figure8racer7463]

O.K. i had some problems shifting the banshee recently and when i pulled the cov er i found the washer and circlip which holds on the idler gear sitting in the bottom of the cover. I bought a new one and also a new shift shaft just because i was already in there and figured why not make sure it is good too. When i went to re-install the idler gear i realized that the groove that the circlip sits in was damaged pretty bad and had bbroken off a little bit towards the outside of the shaft. The circlip will not seat properly and therefore wont stay on under pressure. My question is can the shaft that the idler gear sits on be replaced without splitting the cases? If not could i take it to the local welder who does amazing work and have him spot weld the circlip and washer to the shaft so my idler gear cant come off? I am going to replace the bushing in the idler gear but dont want to tear the whole motor apart right now. I figure if i can either replace the shaft without splitting the cases or have it welded on and it will last me through the summer i will be happy. I realize that welding the washer and circlip on are not the correct way of fixing this but cant afford to have the cases split right now and will probably rebuild the bottom end over the winter months anyway so am not to worried about haveing to replace that shaft that the idler gear sits on at a later date. Let me know what you think and any other possible solutions which are better than welding them on. Thanks!!!!

[BellicoseBanshee]

Split the cases from the bottom, and you will not need to remove the cylinders. I would just fix it the right way if it were me. As J-Madd said before, the welding might work...

[Koolguyson]

Fix it the right way by splitting the cases. You can't replace that shaft without putting the motor down.