From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Frame torsional weakness in relation to shock absorbers, radiator 'jellying', and 'shimmy'.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 55\4\ Scan394 | |
| Date | 24th February 1930 | |
| OY. From Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson} x235 Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson}8/MJ.24.2.30. x7772 x235. Thank you for your note OY3/10.2.30. You will observe that our recent memo re. radiator "jellying" deals with the point you raise. The frame is so weak torsionally that if you could disregard all thought of riding comfort we should not be able to use appreciably more damping than we do at present, because if we did the shock absorbers would cease to function, and the frame distort as a whole. We have actually tried out shock absorbers connected in the manner you suggest in the very early days of "shimmy", when the lack of rigidity of the frame was brought to light. It is of course the old principle of a stabiliser and if we succeed in making our frames sufficiently rigid in front, we may succeed in getting some advantage out of the arrangement. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson} | ||