It would have been a different story before tar was invented ?
Which was only in the 1920s.
I can recall our street being tarred in suburbia, and that was a LONG time after the 1920s.
Nortons actually have quite a record of steering head woes.
Featherbeds had to have gussetts welded around the steering head tube.
And early Commando frames were recalled to be redesigned with a strengthening bar under the tank.
