I was reading about oils and it mentions that both the HP4 with and without moly have moly in them! (Not an Amsoil test either I think)

Yes even the HP4 without moly has like 74ppm of moly in it. Most others have almost none but a couple have major amounts still. I will look for the web page test results so I can give you more info but I can't find it in my history yet.

I am only checking because of a rider friend put Mobil MXT4 in and now Castrol Act EVO and now he says he misses his 2nd gear and goes straight to third sometimes. (He has an 2002 VFR800FI by the way).

Is there moly in the mobil or ActEVO that could cause this or is this something else entirely?

My question is why would Honda recommend no moly but still have it in their non moly based oils?

 

yes its true
honda oil even the GN4 dino oil has some moly in it
not a lot mind you but some

that is why i use repsol 4T full synth
no moly at all

 

I would like to know more about what oils have moly.

Is there a label on the oil or a website that will tell you if and how much moly is in the oil?

 

There is no reason to think that Molybdenum will cause any harm to your motors or drivetrain in small quantities. It is simply a chemical used in the makeup of motorcycle oil products that provides a certain amount of "slickness" at the cost of heat dissipating capabilities. Repsol 4T has 1 ppm of Mo, but needs to have considerable amounts of Magnesium to make up for it. The other oils use more Mo and less Mg. Mo in quantity simply helps race bikes utilize higher rpm's with a little less friction. There is no harm done to an engine by havingMo in the oil unless you drive in stop and go traffic with an oil that has extra Mo added like HP4M. If you have a 1000RR (and I think the other newer bikes also) your pistons have a Molybdenum coating from the factory to decrease friction under high heat conditions.

You have absolutely nothing to worry about as far as Molybdenum in HP4 goes. I would not recommend using HP4M or any other + Mo oil unless you ride strictly on the track, though. Your 1000RR manual states that + Mo oils should be avoided due to clutch slippage and premature wear. The amount of Mo in HP4 will cause no harm. HP4M is a race oil and should only be used by those that have a modified clutch that can handle that type of oil.

Your friend's problem is not due to the oil that he is using. The ONLY oil that I know of that uses no Mo (well, 1 ppm) is Repsol, so everyone in the world that doesn't use Repsol 4T is using an oil with Mo in it. It's not as big a deal as people like to make it sound. Like I said, you only have to be wary of the + Mo race oils that require other modifications.

Hope that helps a little.

I personally use Repsol because I like that they sponsor the Honda bikes and that they have that built-in pouring tube. Frickin genious. If you have never tried Repsol, it's worth it just to get the pouring tube and see what you've been missing. Well, that and it's the best oil in my opinion for street use.

You can get the breakdown of some common oils at hooliganbiketech.net and most other ones are available through the maufacturers website or by googling (is that a word) whatever your looking for.