Step one of rebuilding the e-bike my co-worker gave me is grafting a different battery management board onto the battery pack.
Transplant complete!

I still need to figure out how to wire up the charger plug. They used an XLR connector with four pins, and the charger doesn't turn the power on until it senses something (maybe a temperature sensor?)

Edit: i just needed to check the back of the charger for the pinout

A lot of fiddling later and i have the charging port connected and everything stuffed back in the original case.
Good news! It charges!
It's Friday night hacker meetup and i am working on reviving the e-bike with the parts i ordered from AliExpress
It's gonna work!
That took hours longer than it should have because of dumb and fiddly little problems, but it's a working e-bike now. I just took it out and got it to to 24mph. That's faster than i like!
Things left to do: tidy up the wiring, figure out how to mount the pedal assist sensor, attach the headlight, give it a less boring paint job
@MLE_online you should coat it in bed liner, i hear that bed liner is a really good coating for bike frames
@fredy it is, actually, but only for those with the magic touch
@MLE_online that's true, it can sense if you are pure of heart
@fredy my heart is very pure. i wonder if i know anyone who has a heart of evil who's ever tried it
@MLE_online surely you'd never associate with such a sinner
@fredy Like the Christ, i seek out sinners and spend time with them. Only through their love for me will they be saved.

@MLE_online
That is really cool.

May I recommend retroreflective tape for color? Comes in all sorts of colors, great for racing stripes and flat areas alike, and makes you super visible at night. If you have access to a vinyl cutter, you could even do shapes!

@MLE_online

Maybe you need a sloe gin fizz

@MLE_online Good work! Thanks for sharing the problem solving.

@MLE_online

Congratulations!

@alienghic @MLE_online Oooh, no random tariff madness with AliExpress anymore?

@ai6yr @MLE_online

I have bought some random cheap junk for my family like pens or stuffies and everything went through smoothly.

I think china bullied trump into behaving by threatening to take away the rare earths needed to manufacture the fancy weapons

There may be tariffs but the chinese vendors know how to include it into the price.

@alienghic @MLE_online Good to know! (not that AliExpress would let me order last time... they were using some phone number checker, which I swear is tied to FB, and believes I do not exist. 🤷 )

@ai6yr @MLE_online

i gave in to that identity validation to deal with begging by kid.

@ai6yr @alienghic the prices of everything on AliExpress are considerably higher than they were a year ago, so maybe they're just adding the tariffs into the prices now. The prices are still good though
@MLE_online Man, I wanna be on your team when shit goes down.
@FeloniousPunk
The shit is going down - get ya tools!
@MLE_online
@MLE_online hell yeah!! really fun to watch this project from start to finish, thanks for posting it!
@MLE_online
The smile of success is the best part of this video. I love it when there's geeky success, mine or anyone else's.
@TTFKA_Tay0 it's exciting when things work!
@MLE_online
Yes, thanks for sharing that video.
@MLE_online
That's what a good time looks like. :)

@MLE_online I love this whole thread. Not just that you're doing the thing, but that you're doing it with Community.

Fixing stuff with friends is definitely a part of the future I want to see!

@MLE_online Congrats! Love seeing the re-use and problem solving.
@davebauerart Just a few more high-stakes steps and I might have another working ebike!