Elf Moto 4 Tourer 15W-50

Worth knowing

In the catalogue, the plain Tourer oils, with no extra letters in the name, claim API SP and JASO MA2 in all four viscosities (10W-40, 15W-50, 20W-50 and 20W-60), so the SAE grade in the motorcycle’s manual decides the choice. The data sheet figures do not always follow the name, though: this 15W-50 has 17.8 mm²/s at 100 °C, while Tourer 20W-50 has only 16.9 mm²/s, so at 100 °C it is the 15W-50 that is thicker. Grade 50 covers 16.3 mm²/s up to but not including 21.9 mm²/s at 100 °C, so both fit, and 15W and 20W differ only in the cold tests given in the table of SAE J300 grades.

The line “Officially approved: M033TEL204” in the data sheet is easy to read as an approval, but it refers to JASO, not a motorcycle manufacturer. It is the number under which the Tourer 15W-50, class MA2, is entered in the JALOS list. The committee does not test the oil itself: the supplier declares the class on its own responsibility, and the committee issues the number and spot-checks market samples, so this line is not an approval in the usual sense.