Johno, I suggest you do the oil-in-the-sparkplug-hole trick, and check the tappet clearances, to check whether your problem is mainly rings or mainly valves. There may be some involvement of both.
Your engine is pushrod OHV, and it needs some oil in the rocker compartment to lubricate the valve gear. However it probably has worn-out piston rings, and that does not give it a fair chance at keeping its interior clean. The blow-by past the piston rings is likely to exceed the capacity of the crankcase ventilation system, resulting in excess oil passing through the breather system into the intake port and getting past the valve stems into the rocker compartment. In other words it may or may not have worn valve guides, but it probably has other reasons to have oil in all the wrong places, so you should not judge just by the presence of oil. If you find you need to replace the rings, you can check the valve stem clearance in the guides at the same time. There is a Honda workshop manual for the HR194 & 214 in the parts and manuals section of this site.
