I haven't played with a Sherco primary drive but it would be very unusual for those gears to be worn. Some clutches have a cushion drive between the clutch gear and the basket and they can get a bit of inconsequential play.
Go ahead and try acetone if you want. It didn't work for me and before you ask, neither did throttle body cleaner, methylated spirits, kero, turps, eucalyptus oil, melaleuca oil, methanol or WD40. I didn't try xylene on its own.
An alternative to paint stripper that would also work but risk taking off some metal would be to degrease then bead blast.