Stuck steering pivot pin

All of a sudden and for no particular reason, the ball joint on my Strida 5 popped out. Ever since putting it back in, the steering pin has got jammed making it very difficult to fold bike. Have tried WD40 to no avail. It jams on unfolding and only clicks into place on hitting a bump in the road and then it is very difficult to pull apart again in order to fold. Anybody had a similar experience? Any thoughts on what to do next? Help!!

When I changed a ball socket, i had to be quite brutal to get it out - letting the front and back tubes extend towards horizontal, it was like breaking the bikes’ neck :smiley: ,

but then following instructions it went back OK, are you sure it went back in ok ??

Assuming the ball is back in OK, the tight steering pivot pin is un-related (unless some one has borrowed the bike and crashed it or taken it on a down hill mountain bike run). But to fix, you’ll need a quality allen / hex wrench (6mm from memory), and with the pin fully locked into position (safety catch engaged), slacken off the screws on both sides of the pin (these are tight and lock-tited, so expect a fight !). then after they are both loose, simply retighten them, gradually one side then the other.

What this does is re-align the pin with the bearings so its free free to steer and free to release.

If this doesn’t work then it does sound like something has got damaged… and it might be time to visit a dealer. Please let us know what happens - and maybe upload some pictures if you are unsure.

Hi Human Amp,

Thanks so much for your post. I shall give it a go this weekend and post how I got on :smiley:

This worked a treat, now back on the road with no further problems!!! Thanks

Just goes to show this FORUM works :sunglasses:

I had the same problem. This solution worked for me too. Thanks a million, Human Amp!