Rob English [one of the Tikit designers] posted the info below about the Tikit's latching mechanism and some differences between 2007 & 2008 Tikits to the Bike Friday Yak List. I thought I would throw it up here as a reference.
"Hi all,
Just thought I should jump in and give a little explanation on the tikit rear end latching mechanism. The latch arm is made from cromoly steel plate which we heat treat to make it hard. This gives it the 'springiness' to function as the latching arm. However, it must be set to only move a minimal distance, otherwise it will permanently deform, and as Andy has discovered, not longer do it's job. To ensure this minimal travel, the wiper on the seatmast should /just/ barely lift the latch arm enough to release it from the pin. This is worth checking in case the wiper has been knocked in transit - it's position can easily be tweaked with an adjustable wrench if required. Now, when the bike is 'overlatched' to put in the suitcase, the latch arm is by necessity sitting on top of the pin and thus can end up being permanently deformed - as Andy finds. In this instant he is quite right just to tweak it back to the functioning position.
The 2008 bikes do have a slightly different design - we triangulated the base of the latch arm to make it stiffer, and changed the slot to a single hole which enabled us to eliminate the overlatch bolt - there is now a simple stop instead. Unfortunately this isn't something that can be upgraded to '07 bikes, but hopefully the notes above will enable folk to keep their tikits functioning well.
Rob."
"Hi all,
Just thought I should jump in and give a little explanation on the tikit rear end latching mechanism. The latch arm is made from cromoly steel plate which we heat treat to make it hard. This gives it the 'springiness' to function as the latching arm. However, it must be set to only move a minimal distance, otherwise it will permanently deform, and as Andy has discovered, not longer do it's job. To ensure this minimal travel, the wiper on the seatmast should /just/ barely lift the latch arm enough to release it from the pin. This is worth checking in case the wiper has been knocked in transit - it's position can easily be tweaked with an adjustable wrench if required. Now, when the bike is 'overlatched' to put in the suitcase, the latch arm is by necessity sitting on top of the pin and thus can end up being permanently deformed - as Andy finds. In this instant he is quite right just to tweak it back to the functioning position.
The 2008 bikes do have a slightly different design - we triangulated the base of the latch arm to make it stiffer, and changed the slot to a single hole which enabled us to eliminate the overlatch bolt - there is now a simple stop instead. Unfortunately this isn't something that can be upgraded to '07 bikes, but hopefully the notes above will enable folk to keep their tikits functioning well.
Rob."
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