It took him ten hours of work the first time. Yes, it'll take him less the second time because he's gotten better at it, but it's still by no means easy or trivial. And we haven't gotten to how much he values his time yet.
People love to go on about the value of their time, but most people cannot arbitrarily decide to work another hour and get paid for it. Most people either have their schedules set by their employers or are on a salary that doesn't change if they add an additional hour.
Don't weight ten hours of learning about bicycle assembly as though it were ten billable hours if it isn't. Compare it against the ten hours you were going to do other things in: reading, watching TV, going out for a walk, whatever.
I think I'd rather read a book than keep monkeying around with a bicycle, though. That's the value of the time I'm referring to. I know some people like endless tinkering with things, but not me; I just want them working. Mechanical repair isn't a leisure activity for me.
Two types of people and all that. OP is clearly a tinkerer. Telling them that they shouldn’t value their time this way seems silly.
If I was the OP, I would do this exact thing: after putting some more miles on the bike and saving up that gas money, get a nicer bike and swap the motor. Better yet, sell this e bike for $2k now that it’s all upgraded and use that money for a full upgrade.
I don't think he'll be able to get $2K for it. It's still built around a bad bike, and any prospective buyer will easily find that out. It's probably worth most as parts.
