[Flip]

I know a lot of people love powder coating for wheels but personally (going by the ones my mates have had done over the years) I think they chip very easily compared with properly painted wheels.

Whether it has something to do with the powder coating not adhering to the alloy properly or whether it is to do with the preparation I cannot say but as already said, the bearing will definitely need replacing afterwards which, depending upon how well you/the shop masked them first could result in the fresh coat getting chipped as you knock the old bearings out.

Taking the bearings out prior to coating presents the problem of then having to mask the bearing surface from any media blasting and the subsequent powder coat.

The only wheels I have had done I have either had media cleaned and then painted myself on the cheap with reasonable results or in the case of my old GSX-R750WT which was the first generation with a kind of dark grey anodised finish to the wheels I sent them to a specialist company who chemical etched primed them before painting and they looked amazing and didn't chip or mark in eight years and 20.000 miles.