Does Motorcycle Oil Have Molybdenum in it?

[Old Drifter]

The manual says to use oils with the JASO designation. Just my 2 cents. 

KAWASAKI 10W-40 QUART MOTORCYCLE OIL
Item# K61021-202A
MSRP$5.95
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Outstanding engine and bearing wear protection
Prolonged engine life through improved engine cleanliness and reduced oil volatility
Improved shift quality through enhanced transmission / clutch performance and dependability
Recommended in applications requiring API SL, JASO MA and JASO MA2 engine oil

[RockinRollin]

Here's an article concerning moly in motorcycle oil that would back up what my friend has pointed out - that moly is added to motorcycle oils.
http://www.royalpurple.com/blog/the-down-low-on-motorcycle-oil/

Quote " What is found in current motor oils is an oil-soluble version of molybdenum which does not have an adverse affect on wet clutches and agglomeration issues common to solid moly. Oil technology is in constant evolution; now many oils are formulated with performance-enhancing moly without the concerns of older, solid moly technology. Bottom line: When it comes to choosing the right oil for your motorcycle engine, the most important quality to look for is that it is rated for motorcycle engines."

[RockinRollin]

I personally do not claim to know much about oil, nor do I consider myself to be an oil expert. But I do have a friend who is, in fact in any given week he analyzes oil samples from dozens of industrial machines in his state of the art oil lab.
He is also a biker so when I dropped by the oil lab the other day the subject of motorcycle oil came up and he told me that some motorcycle oils contain molybdenum that acts as a friction modifier and most notably the popular Rotella T6. Many motorcyclists swear by and use T6 due to the fact that it's supposed to be friction modifier free (free of moly) that supposedly will damage the clutch in your motorcycle.

This went against eveything I had read concerning motorcycle oil. Of course being a doubting Thomas type I needed proof. He handed me 2 sample vials and told me to bring in a sample of Rotella T6 and NG4 Honda Motorcycle Oil that I use in my Honda. To my surprise not only did the Rotella T6 synthetic oil have moly (60 ppm) but so did the Honda NG4 (47 PPM)! Now I know that some, like me will question if this could be so. But after seeing the results from the test and the fact that my friend is one of the best in the business I am persuaded. FYI - most auto motor oils have between 40 - 70 ppm moly in it. (Parts Per Million)

So where does this leave us regarding motor oil - should we start putting automotive motor oil in our bikes? My friend says no because there are other considerations and additives that need to be considered. He told me in the past he ran a sample of Rotella T3 which had no friction modifiers (moly) in it ( not synthetic ) for anyone who uses Rotella and doesn't want moly in their oil. He also told me any motor oil that states " Energy Conserving Formula " on the container more than likely has moly in it due to the fact that moly makes it slippery and reduces friction thus saves you energy. In the spectrometer read out for the test results moly is designated by "Mo" . In the column three samples are taken and the average is at the bottom. I also bought a jug of oil from the Kawasaki dealer and one of these days I will get him to test that also. I ran Rotella T6 in my Honda for 2 years with no issues and for the last year I used GN4 Honda motorcycle oil.

Note : If you look closely under the jpg you will see the link for the test results in pdf format.