Where does the time go?

What with one thing and another it seems like I’ve been running like mad just to stay in place. The summer is flying by and the list of must-do items is growing faster than I can knock them off. Of course the spousal unit would probably tell me to golf less and ride less but those things are what summer is for; it’s not like you can defer them to the winter. (Curiously she never suggests I work less, or help in the garden less, or do less house work to free up time.)
Anyway we’re in for a couple of rainy days so I’m finally getting around to an item that had been top of mind since last winter. The Honda XL500 tends to smoke a bit when starting up. Well that’s a bit understated; it actually looks more like this military-grade mosquito fogger until the engine warms up.
I suspect worn valve guides.
So the next couple of days will be spent removing the engine, tearing it down to replace the guides, and then putting it all back together again, ideally with no parts left over. I’ll also take the opportunity to remove the compression release mechanism. It’s not really necessary for starting, and just adds complexity.  
Hopefully that will solve the smoking problem – the last issue I want to fix before I take it in for a pre-licensing safety check.