while your at it just check the 3 main components of the electrical system. battery, stator and regulator. when i got my f3 the bike would fire up then die out after a minute or two. so i replaced the stator and then the battery. biked worked fine untill about 2 weeks later. i needed to replace the regulator. the damage of using having a bad stator caused my battery to be bad which in turn messed up my regulator. now by fixing the 1st 2 problems it led to a all out failure of my regulator. the symptoms i was having were: hard to start (required multiple cranks), after leaving the biek to sit on off for even a few minutes would mak ethe bike not start at all. regulator would become dangerously hott, . before i fixed the stator and the battery the bike would start to sputter out, rpms would drop, lights would dim etc. hope any ofthis help ya

 

So your voltage numbers seem to be OK. However, I think that a charging voltage 14.4V at idle is a bit high. The max charging voltage is around 15V i believe so if your getting 14.4v at idle you may have a problem. The job of the voltage regulator is to make sure that the voltage is correct. I would check the service manual and find out what the exact charging voltage should be at idle. Bad voltage regulators are very bad for your bike, because if they ever go completly bad and let the alternator pump as much voltage as it can it will fry every electronic component on the bike in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. I'm not saying that is the cause of your problem but it is a possibility. Also check all the wires and especially grounds. A simple loose ground can cause your bike to shut off. If you PCM ground is loose and looses its connection then your PCM will shut off and causing your bike to shut off (just an example). Just as a side note, your bike can run on its alternator after you start it. The only reason you really need the batt installed is because of wiring reasons I believe. My auto shop teacher used to tell us all the time that after the car starts, you can remove the battery and the car should run until it runs out of fuel.

 

^ in a car yes you can do this, but on a bike we need the battery for the rest of our electrical system ie lights, blinkers etc

 

I just know from experience trying to start my F4i on a fully dead (not even the the clock displaying) battery that if I jump it and immediately remove the cables from the donor battery it will die immediately. If I let it idle for 2 or 3 minutes then pull off the cables, it runs fine.

 

Well I took the bike out for a ride today and after about 10 minutes of smooth riding it started stuttering again. It only seems to start doing it after 10 minutes or so, fairly consistently.

I managed to get back home and then checked the battery again. It showed 12.4 volts and the bike won't start.
I can push start it ok, just can't start normal.

I don't know what to do.. The connections around the battery look fine andthe battery terminals are clean

 

what about the plug connectors around your regulator/stator ?

 

mine did the same thing. my battery terminal was just loose. i would def. make sure thats tight before you start getting more in depth with it

 

The battery terminals look good, they are tight and clean.
When the battery has a good charge (12.5+ V)the bike starts no problem.

It's like the alternator only charges the battery intermittently. Sometimes it charges up no problem and I can start the bike. Then sometimes it dies while I am driving

I looked at as many connections as I could find (took the rear cowling off) and wiggled+pushed them to make sure they are ok.

 

have you thought of the possibility you might have to replace your stator ?

i know you have tested it before but there could be a problem there that you havent seen . like you said it happens when your riding and you cant test how its working while your riding .

 

I'm not familiar enough with the components to know how to check the stator so it could be that.

Do you think getting a new battery is a worth while test? I'm tempted to just buy a new one and see if that makes a difference. If not, then I have twobatteries..

One more thing, when my bike starts acting up the battery is low. I pulled into my driveway when it was doing it then checked my battery. 12.3 Volts and it wouldn't turn over.

Also, it's consistent in that the bike will run fine for at least 10 minutes then start crapping out.