Where to Get Molybdenum Disulfide Grease

[cwgoff]

It seems like every time someone talks about applying grease to something on our bikes, it is recommended that we use molybdenum disulfide grease. I think Nobrakes even said it was called for in the manual for something. With that in mind, I figured it would be available at my local Kawa dealer, but alas, this is not the case. I called an Advance Auto Parts store, again thinking that everyone in the world except me knows exactly what this stuff is. Again, he did not know of the stuff. He has two products that sound like they might work, but nothing that says exactly "molybdenum disulfide". The closest that he had was something that said it was "moly-fortified for improved film strength" or something like that. He had another product that was some multipurpose green synthetic polymer that was recommended by the Speed Channel.

Anyone know where I can get the stuff. I was just going to go to Walmart at lunch, but I don't want to waste a trip.

Thanks,
Chris

[Nobrakes]

I got mine at Autozone - there were several brands if I recall, I just got a can that listed molybdenum disulfide as an ingredient or additive - I can't quite remember how it was phrased.

[EMS_0525]

can you take a pic of your can of grease.... what is the brand brian?

[Nobrakes]

I will, but it will have to wait until this evening.

[EMS_0525]

ok thanks... im going to need to get some because i plan on greasing all the bearings on the bike over winter....
have you greased the hub bearings? does that seal just pop off and on?

[tremor38]

" Molybdenum disulfide, also called molybdenum sulfide or molybdenum(IV) sulfide, with the formula MoS2, is a black crystalline sulfide of molybdenum. It occurs as the mineral molybdenite. It is insoluble in water and unreactive toward dilute acids. Its melting point is 1185 °C, but it starts oxidizing in air from 315 °C, limiting the range of its use as a lubricant in the presence of air between the temperatures of -185 and +350 °C; in nonoxidizing environments it is stable up to 1100 °C."

The above is from Wikipedia. I looked it up just to confirm what I thought. It's just plain old 'moly B' as we called it in Aviation Maintenance. It's commonly available in almost any automotive supply store. Just don't get hung-up on the 'disulfide' vs 'sulfide' or 'molybdenum(IV)' semantics. It's all the same grease and has been around for ages. And please don't get all eccentric looking for 'motorcycle moly B' or some such nonsense...we get ripped off enough as it is.

[cwgoff]

Thanks guys. I will go buy some today. I am hoping to get my 45T on this weekend along with a few other things.

[Nobrakes]

The can I got is labeled "Coastal" brand, "Industrial" and "Moly EP" are on the front. It's a black can, roughly pint sized and the back of the can says it contains molybdenum disulfide. I'll post a photo later if that is still desired.

[cwgoff]

To tremor38's point, the last thing I want to do it buy a diamond when cubic zirconia will do just fine. With that said, though, what little bit of research that I have done this morning indicates that most greases that you buy (even those that contain molyB) still contain a lot of petroleum ingredients that might not stand up as well as the molyB portion of the mixture. Also, some say that these greases don't contain a huge portion of molyB.

Some of the higher end greases, though, claim to have as much as 60% molyB. For example, the Loctite Moly Paste I think is supposed to be highly concentrated.

The Loctite product is available from my local Grainger shop for about $24 for a 1/2 pound can. I think the greases in the automotive section are significantly cheaper than that, but I haven't priced them.

My question is this, is more better, or am I overthinking this. I have been accused of that in the past (not hear - in "real life"). Anyway, I want to do the best I can for my bike, but I don't want to overspend either.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Chris

[warski]

I'm pretty sure that grease for auto constant velocity (CV) joints is moly. If I get a chance, I'll stop in the local auto parts store and check. I think it should be easy to find...