Folding Bikes - Batavus Intercycle: how do i fold the stem

I have a folding bike and yesterday i found out which brand it is. Mine had a paintjob in the past but yesterday I put my bike in the train and there she stood: an exact the same bike but with original paint.
It's a Batavus Intercycle.

The photo attached is not mine but the closest i could find. I have 2 questions regarding the stem. If I unscrew the handle/bolt thing on the screw nothing happens.. what is it meant for? Turning the bar or something? The second question is related I guess. My bike has a huge white knob on top of the stem/bar. Obviously to adjust the height or make the stem loose or something but that one doesnt work either...

What am i doing wrong?

Those were very good designs for their day. they did not have enough Knee room for me. i owned a shop call "AAA Bikes" ans was a Batavus dealer in Georgia USA.

Enjoy it!!

Slim

PS.

I am not sure how yours is made but the "handle blot thing" on the models i saw allowed you to rotate the bar/stem or to slide it out for positioning.

Probably sieze up. Try loosening it and soaking with WD-40 or Brake fluid for severral hours and then giving it a rap with a rubber mallet. Careful not to get the fluids on the tires, paint or rubber!

As a last resort you can apply heat with a propane torch but not enought to bliser or ruin the chrome.

Slim

I see you were mentioning being a Batavus dealer in the past - I just got a hold of a similar Batavus Batafold, and it's missing the seatpost and stem qr/clamps. Any idea where one might find these parts? I figure I'll have to ask people in the Netherlands as well. Thanks.

The photo attached is not mine but the closest i could find. I have 2 questions regarding the stem. If I unscrew the handle/bolt thing on the screw nothing happens.. what is it meant for? Turning the bar or something? The second question is related I guess. My bike has a huge white knob on top of the stem/bar. Obviously to adjust the height or make the stem loose or something but that one doesnt work either...
It's a BataFold! I have one of these in blue that I built up as a 3-speed in 1974 while I was working at a bike shop in Berkeley. The handlebars don't fold, they rotate. To rotate you should first loosen the handle/bolt thing a bit. Then if you loosen the huge white knob you should be able to rotate the stem. As noted earlier in the thread, use some liquid wrench or WD-40 to help break the stem free the first time. The White knob is probably attached to a conventional stem wedge-nut of some type so you would have to loosen it and then whack it with something to knock the wedge-nut down. Then it should turn.

It was never the greatest design for a fast or small fold, but they ride OK. I built mine up from a frameset and never had the original stem so mine has a standard steel stem and drop bars. Does your's have the original steel crankset with a nut you can loosen to turn the pedal around to the inside of the bike?

The frame has horizontal dropouts that would be perfect for making it a fixed-gear bike. Probably has 120mm rear dropout spacing.


it's missing the seatpost and stem qr/clamps. Any idea where one might find these parts?
Good luck finding parts outside of Holland! Are you missing the seatpost or just the seatpost QR? Since it uses a square seatpost they are very difficult to find. The seatpost QR is just a "C" shaped piece of metal and you could make one if needed.

Nowadays the bike is standing still, collecting dust :(

The stem broke and i don't know where to get a replacement stem. It seems to me just an ordinary 1" stem but extra long :)

What broke on the stem? Any of the more modern folder 25.4mm stemposts would fit. They would give it a more compact fold.

The hollow part where the steer itself runs through, torned open.

I have plenty of stems here which fit but they are all like 5cm high and i need like 30cm :)

Good luck finding parts outside of Holland! Are you missing the seatpost or just the seatpost QR? Since it uses a square seatpost they are very difficult to find. The seatpost QR is just a "C" shaped piece of metal and you could make one if needed.

I've got the seatpost - all I need is the QR. I would love to make one - can you suggest how I might go about it? Also, I have the headset collar for securing the stem, but no QR handle. Again, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My QR is missing too. But because they are all over the place here i know how they look. The description above is pretty accurate.

In my case i just used a big bolt to secure it

Can anyone post a closeup pic of the seatpost QR? I've been looking all over at pics of this type of bike, but can't quite figure out the mechanism.

I don't have it either but you can see it pretty good in the picture in the OP.

It's like a "["

For parts, an inquiry to Accel Group wouldn't hurt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavus, link at bottom.