MrSingh

I think I tightened the roundish silver locking plate inside handlebar stem a little, which has two Alan screws & slides back and forth and locks into the headset, meaning I now can't fold the handlebar stem.

Was simply trying to tinker with the tightness of the handlebar stem QR not realising that that is only controlled by the nut with white plastic spacer.

Have tried budging the silver plate backwards from the outside by using a thin dinner knife through the slit on the headset but it won't budge. Removing the handle bar stem QR lever isn't possible - even if that were to help. Can post pics if required.

:-(

Somebody help..

MrSingh

Anyone?

BruceMetras

I can't really picture what you've done...

Does it look like mine?

MrSingh

Hi Bruce,

Many thanks for taking the time. Much appreciated

See attached pic. Very similar to your's except the plate is bigger and screws are on top of it.

BruceMetras

Yours is a different design.. looks much like what was used in the past .. mine 'pulls' the plate into the cutout recess at the top of my stem .. yours pushes the plate into a 'lip' below the surface at the top of your stem.. the little Allen screws need to be loose enough to allow the plate to be pushed into the lip.. what happens when you pull down on the handlepost release lever? Is it stuck?

BruceMetras

Did you have your handlepost/fork assembly replaced for any reason? .. note how your main head set bolt is buggered up compared to mine ... did you try loosening the single external allen bolt that locks the headset in place?

BruceMetras

Maybe I misunderstand .. is your handlepost locked in the riding position or the folded position?

MrSingh

When I release the QR lever although the lever fully disengages the handlepost stays as tightly stuck, as if the QR lever was still fully engaged.

Somehow I think because I tightened those Allen screws on the plate, although having moved forward and locked into the lip the plate now will not automatically pull back when the QR lever is even fully released. It won't budge even when I try to push it through the slit I mentioned earlier. At the time having not consulted the manual stupid me thought this adjustment might help me get a tighter lock on the QR lever. Only having seen the manual afterwards I realised that is the job of the bolt behind the white spacer..doh!

MrSingh

Thats how I got the bike, brand new last Friday. I guess the employee who built it didn't take much care when tightening that main headset bolt :-(. I guess it couldn't have happened at the factory because I'm figuring the handlepost and main headset would have been packed as separate parts, right?

I did try try loosening the external Allen bolt but aside from allowing me to twist the handlebar stem left and right it doesn't seem to have any other influence over matters.

I took the bike back to the store the other day. They called the distributor, while I was there. Distributor said they will get some advice from Dahon. If it can't be rectified the store manager told me he will push them for a new replacement bike.

This time round I will piece together the bike myself straight out the box, making sure I take it slowly with the manual in hand ofcourse..wouldn't want to mess with any bolts that shouldn't be messed with ;-)

MrSingh

It's locked in the riding position. I only have that photo of the unlocked folded handlepost because I took it before the handlepost got 'locked-up'. Was going to query if the 2014 bike was different in anyway to the 2013 via this forum, hence the picture taken of that mechanism.

BruceMetras

The bikes in the US come pretty much assembled out of the box.. pretty much unfold and go ... must be a spring to push your plate back once the lever is released .. nice that there is the slit .. may have to sacrifice a butter knife, but you need something metal and substantial that will just fit in the slot and will allow you to bang/tap on it with a device (hammer) to move the plate from where it is bound .. basically you'll just be helping the return spring along .. a few whacks and I'd bet it'll start moving and then release.. then you can clean it up and start over..

MrSingh

As mentioned I tried a few whacks with a knife and a hammer but to no avail. Maybe I need to whack a little harder and a few more times. I stopped because when it wouldn't budge I thought perhaps there is some sort of locking of that plate despite the QR lever being fully released. Also told the shop guys about this and they tried some whack but again to no avail. But I guess it can't remain locked with QR fully released as that wouldn't make sense.

Will get back to you Bruce after giving it a few more whacks with a bit more welly - hopefully without woiding the warranty...some nice alliteration there ;-)

Thanks for the help,

Atma

BruceMetras

Boy, the stuff I have lying around the shop... ok, it's as I thought, spring loaded (weak spring) and you have access through the slot.. actually have room for a fairly substantial screwdriver blade.. just hit it a few times with authority (make sure lever is released).. it has to free up ... also note how the slots where the Allen screws are 'should' look, not damaged as they appear in your photo..



[

ThorUSA

what Bruce said
open quick release
loosen the allen bolt , every little bit helps
and put screwdriver in slot
whack it
than loosen the bolts so the plaste moves easy back and forth

jur

I would use some caution here.

It is very likely that one bolt has bound slightly more than the other one, and when closing the quick release when the bolts were too tight, the sliding plate rotated around the bolt that bound more, and is now wedged at an angle against the side. Just whacking it blindly may not have the desired result because the plate is rotated to some degree, and is now binding against the bolt's side.

It may not be possible to spot to which side it has rotated, but try a slightly thinner rod, and tap it first towards the left, say, and if it does not budge, tap it towards the right.

[edit] you might be able to spot the misalignment by looking at the white plastic block that slides against the quick release - is that sitting off to the side a bit? It might also be possible to use a thin screw driver and move the white block back to the center.

MrSingh

Bruce / Thor,

Whacking it with a bit of Welly through the slit with dinner knife worked a treat. All sorted :-)

Many thanks for taking the time to help.

Azreal911

MrSingh you might want to double check that white nylon piece if it has been crushed due to the overtightening plate. You might need that piece replaced if it looks mashed up else you will never get that nice tight feel on your handlebar and would probably have to overcompensate with that adjustment nut too much.

also funny how Bruce "just happens" to have an entire Dahon handlebar assembly just "lying around" lol. I sure don't have that many spare parts!

BruceMetras

If you had as many unfinished projects as I have, you'd have plenty of spares also ... folderitis hit really hard a few years back... fortunately through therapy, I'm on the slow road to recovery...

MrSingh

Thanks for the tip. Checked the white spacer and it seems fine.