Rotating/turning handle bars

[sephknite]

Hello all.

I'm experiencing an issue with my ebike where if I stand in front of the bike, hold the front tire between my legs, grab the handle bar, I am able to turn the handle bar left/right. This offsets it so the handlebar is then off-center when I let go.

I'm told this is not normal; if so, how do I go about fixing it? My e-bike is a folding e-bike, much like the Rad Mini, but is one I got from Alibaba/China.

Any help/suggestion would be much appreciated!

 

[Nova Haibike]

It would be helpful if you could post some photos so we can see the type of handlebar/stem system your folding bike has.

 

[sephknite]

Adding pictures.

Here's a video I just took and posted: Rotating handle bar.

 

[AguassissiM]

Nice looking bike.
You did not say at which spot it is moving however I would start with the quick release connectors first.
When you use the quick connect to secure the long shaft that the handle bar is attached to, first make sure to tighten it, iee: get rid of all the slack on the bolt, once you flip the handle over you should see an inprint of it on your hand. It will take a few times of trying to get just right.

 

[harryS]

From the video, it looks like the stem is turning at the bottom. That can be tightened. Flip open the lower latch and you will see a hex bolt in the center. Here's how they look on my folders.



There are two types of steerer tubes, threaded and threadless. The threaded type has a big nut above the frame, as shown below. The hex nut is only used to set the compression on the bearings. Tightening the center hex bolt should keep the bars from turning.


The threadless type will have one or more horizontal fasteners that clamp the piece to the steerer tube, as shown in the next picture. In this case, the center hex bolt only sets tension and is not indended to hold the bars steady. You must tighten the side fasteners to keep the whole mechanism from turning.

 

[sephknite]

Thanks all. I'll need to pick up a tool to tighten the hex screw that @harryS mentioned, although I had tried this at a bike shop--it didn't help much when I tightened the screw all the way.

Correct, the stem is turning at the bottom. If it continues to happen, I'll try to take another video of it.

 

[larry-new]

Loosten the stem first and pull it out..this is an area that should be greased, including the diagonal slide that makes it expand. The tighten it quite a bit...you should NEVER be able o turn the wheel the way you described!

 

[ebikemom]

What grease do you use?

 

[larry-new]

Any...you are avoiding future metal frozen to metal, not lubricating. And strangely enough, the occasional drop of sweat trickles down right there.

 

[sephknite]

Fixed! I took it to my local bike shop, and they tightened the bolt down. Now if only I can get rid of this clicking noise when I pedal and shift gears...