The Day I Rode a 150,000-Euro Moto2 Kalex
At mid‑morning inside a makeshift box at Madrid’s Jarama circuit, mechanic Sergi Ruiz begins the ritual that turns a Moto2 machine from a silent piece of engineering into a race‑ready weapon. Tyre warmers are hooked up, pressures checked, brakes bled. The 765 cc Triumph engine is brought to 60 degrees, the seamless gearbox tested. “At a Grand Prix this starts two hours before going on track,” he explains. Nothing is left to chance.
The bike under his hands — a Kalex‑Triumph worth around €150,000 — doesn’t begin when the rider climbs on. It comes alive much earlier, while it still waits on its stands. Ruiz once dreamed of being a rider himself, but circumstance turned him from helmet to toolbox. Today he is a mechanic with the Momoven Idrofoglia RW Racing Team in Moto2, and the respect he shows every component says he never really left the paddock.
Before touching the Kalex, the writer had to prove himself on a much smaller machine: a Honda NSF250R Moto4 bike, valued at some €30,000 and weighing barely 90 kg. Squeezing a six‑foot‑plus frame onto the tiny seat was the first challenge, but the bigger one was learning to keep the engine singing near its 13,000‑rpm peak. “Always keep it up in the revs,” was the only briefing. It worked. The final corner of the last lap gave a sliver of rhythm, and the data later confirmed 166 km/h down the straight.
Back at Jarama, the Moto2 ride was a different language. The 140 hp triple doesn’t explode; it pushes with a steady, urgent swell that picks up speed corner after corner. Brembo GP4 calipers provide the stops, and after a few tentative laps the track began to flow. No lap times were given, but Ruiz smiled at the sound of the returning engine: “Now I could hear you going quite a bit faster.”
The experience was made possible by Momoven, the Spanish motorcycle rental marketplace founded in 2019 by David Berbel, Pablo Carceller and Jordi Royo. “We always had bikes and a lot of time we weren’t using them,” recalls Berbel, now CEO. “We saw platforms for renting cars, motorhomes or boats between individuals, but we couldn’t find one for motorcycles.” That gap became the seed for a company that today stands as the reference peer‑to‑peer bike rental platform in Spain — and a visible presence across every rung of the world championship.
How an ‘Airbnb for Bikes’ Ended Up on the Grand Prix Grid
The Racing‑as‑Marketing Bet
Momoven’s jump into the Grand Prix circus was, in Berbel’s own word, “crazy” — but it was also a deliberate channel for visibility. A two‑sided marketplace lives on trust, and few channels convey performance and credibility like top‑flight motorsport. The brand’s ambassadors include MotoGP rider Álex Márquez, who became an investor and partner. The involvement of Hawkers co‑founder Javier Martínez, who took the helm of the RW Racing Team, was decisive in making the Moto2 entry happen.
Today the company’s logo appears in MotoGP, Moto2 (with Aarón Canet as supported rider), Moto3 (David Almansa and Adrián Cruces) and, at the base, the Momoven Moto4 European Cup. That pyramid is deliberate: it ties the brand to everything from entry‑level talent development to the premier class, while constantly feeding a narrative of excitement and accessibility.
A Gateway for Young Riders
The Moto4 category, where bikes cost roughly €30,000, is the point of entry. Riding one — as the author discovered — forces a rider to learn momentum, line choice and throttle control before horsepower ever takes over. For a platform that makes motorcycles more accessible to ordinary riders, that grassroots connection makes sense: it lowers the psychological barrier between “consumer” and “racer.” Track days and rental revenues become part of the same ecosystem, with the racing programme acting as an amplifier.
What This Means for Riders and the Business of Passion
For motorcycle owners and renters, Momoven’s rise shows how a platform can turn idle assets into income while building a community around the sport. For riders who have never been on a circuit, a Moto4‑style track day is more reachable than many assume, with machines that teach fundamentals before raw speed. For entrepreneurs, the lesson is simpler: aligning a marketplace brand with an authentic passion — even at Grand Prix cost — can generate trust and attention that no ad campaign buys.
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