So....

It turns out that what was wrong with my bike was malfunctioning due to a bad fuel pump, which I've come to find out is a pretty common thing. Talked to a woman who works at the local CycleGear here, who informed me that I should always keep my tank above a 1/4 tank of gas, or the fuel pumps can vapor lock. It makes sense to me, shame the F3 doesn't have a guage. It'll teach me to be more responsible.

So I ordered a new kickstand, new rear link for the suspension, and got a new rear tire. The bike was lowered by a previous owner, and I finally had it raised back to stock height. I have to say it feels a lot better to ride and I'm not worried about bumps scraping the bottom anymore.

Took it out for a few rides, and at night I went to turn on my LEDs and found out the shop had disconnected the mother/father connectors. Connected everthing back up and the lights are back on!

Here are some of my follow up questions though:

I had two of my strips ripped off due to the tape losing traction, what sort of 3m tape would you recommend?

Also, any soldering tips you may have would be greatly appreciated, since I've never done this before, and this will be my first time stripping/splicing/soldering wires.

 

Soldering 101, heat the wire not the solder. When the wire is hot enough, it will soak up the solder like a sponge.