Last year we went along and reviewed the show - you can find this in the 2018 archives. One of the points we made was the expensive car parking charges of £16. 

The show is mainly about the motorcycle manufacturers showcasing their bikes and presenting the new for 2020 machines.

We went along on the last Saturday as this gave us the best opportunity to pap the stars we have been watching all year in the BSB Championship. Nearly 50 present and previous Super Bike and support race stars were available to sign autographs, pose for pictures and chat about the upcoming season. This gave us a target rich environment to practice our papping skills.

Straight away we spotted the Irwin brothers, Tom Neave, and Davey Todd being marshalled for some official photography by James Wright from Double Red photography, one of the main BSB official photographers.

The Irwins will be on the great looking and new for 2020 Honda Racing Fireblade in the BSB Championship. Tom and Davey will flying the Honda flag in the National Superstock 1000cc class. Tom was still wearing a leg brace on his fractured foot after his accident at Donington Park. He should be fit for the session opener at Silverstone over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

It wasn’t only light hearted chat and selfies with the fans that was going on at the show, the serious business of who would get the last few BSB rides that were up for grabs would also be announced. Tyco BMW and Buildbase Suzuki were the teams we were interested in. Keith Farmer was riding for Tyco this year before breaking both his legs in a nasty racing accident at Knockhill. 

It's been 22 weeks since his accident and he is well on the mend now. With his team mate Christian Iddon joining Josh Brooks at Paul Bird Motorsport to take the 2019 Champion Scott Redding's Ducati, would there be a ride for him? 

In my opinion Keith Farmer is too good not to have a ride in 2020 but all was not lost. The Buildbase Suzuki team were up next. James Witham introduced the team Principal and Mallory Park owner Stuart Hicken to the main stage. After a short chat out came Kyle Ryde, this year's British GP2 Champion, followed by Farmer who were presented to the crowd as the Buildbase BSB riders for 2020. 

Stuart Hicken was quite pragmatic about the chances of the team, saying he will be happy with being in the top six at the end of the year for the showdown. This is a big ask when you look at the riders and machines that will be competing next near. 

Talking of Peter Hickman one other notable event on the main stage were the nominations for the Torrens Trophy. This is awarded to an individual or organisation that have made an outstanding contribution to motorcycling in the United Kingdom. 

So besides papping the riders, what other photographic opportunities are there for you at Motorcycle live? The obvious one are all the new bikes that are out on show. There were some truly stunning machines for us to ogle. 

Although I'm a dab hand with a flash gun I don’t use a flash in these hall environments even though the lighting isn't the best. Modern cameras can take a good picture in quite dark environments and vibration reduction helps you get a sharp picture. 

When I'm at a show like this I will look out for bikes on stands that are raised or have a muted background. These images I will use at a later date in my photographic manipulation software; I use Affinity Photo. 

There are lots of trade stalls at the show with some absolute bargains to be had. However, I'm not sure even at the giveaway prices of some of the kit I would want a team branded jacket that was the wrong colour/sponsor for this coming season. 

On the way back from the show we chatted about our thoughts on what were the highlights. I might be biased but the British bikes stood out for me. 

Over on the Norton stand the bikes were even more expensive and exclusive; carbon fibre isn't cheap and the bikes were covered in it. The 650cc Superlight has been upgraded with a carbon frame, carbon wheels, fairing and tank. 

If 170bhp isn't enough power for you the 1200cc V4 RR is pumping out 214bhp from its V4 engine and looks spot on - only £28k to you sir. 

If you don’t have nearly thirty thousand pounds kicking around you could pick up an interesting British built bike for a third of the cost of a Norton over at the CCM stand. 

To finish off this report, the last two stands I must mention featured vintage and classic bikes. The National Motorcycle Museum had put on a great display. 

But it was the Suzuki vintage parts programme that caught our eye. We were at Cadwell earlier this year for the Suzuki Classic track day where the motorcycles supported by this programme were strutting their stuff round the Mini Nürburgring. 

On the Suzuki stand Grand Prix technician Nigel Everett and former mechanic for Barry Sheene, Martyn Ogborne were working on two classic GP bikes. We chatted to Martyn at last year's show were he was restoring an X14. This year the guys were restoring two of the three Barry Sheene race bikes that have returned to the UK for the first time since being taken out to the Sheene family home in Australia.

As always thanks to the rest of the team, RP Watkinson Photography and Dan Clarke for a great day out snapping.