How well does powdercoat hold up on AL frames?

I did mine on my old bike. It held up extremely well .

I would worry about charging your phone first.

PC holds up fine for aluminum, Just take it to a reputable PC shop.

The right shop will know how to prep the frame. Thats the key i think. As long as it sticks well, will be as good as steel.

Anyone else?

I hard anodized my frame and swingarm and it’s held up great over the last few years

Also, turn off your location bud....big brother is tracking you! I’ve had good luck with the powder coat on my ‘05 yz125 I had. Back then I had frame guards and grip tape applied liberally along the frame so my boots wouldn’t rub it off, looked nice for a couple years. Had a good skid plate to protect against roost....upstate NY tracks are pretty rocky.

Anyone else?

The real question is... does it protect it from lime damage?

Anyone else?

Anyone else I can ignore other than those who were already kind enough to write a thoughtful answer?

Look around the internet to find the few "after" pictures where the bike has been ridden 50 hours.

There are 1,000,000 "fresh from the oven" powder coated pictures, but VERY FEW showing how well it held up to normal abuse.

The prep work is most important also the quality of powder. You want to make sure you use the right media to blast the part, it should feel rough and scratchy so the powder has something to bite into once it melts and cures. I've had plenty parts powder coated over the years and from experience a part blasted with a smoother media like glass bead can and will chip. Personally I will glass bead blast the part first to remove anything on the surface to get it clean then re-blast it with black aluminum oxide 50-100 grit at lower pressure just to get the right surface texture then clean it with acetone. Never had a chipping issue this way on steel or aluminum. No matter what powder coated parts on a motocross bike will get scratched up and dull from roost and whatever else is thrown at it. I've used the blue color polishing bar dissolved in mineral spirits to help remove some of the scratching, dullness and bring back the luster. Hope this helps!!

Okay to start off, My frame, swingarm, subframe and motor mounts are all powder coated black... My best advice is definitely to get as full coverage of a 'mx-style' plastic skidplate because it is going to prevent chipping the longest. My skidplate wore off the powdercoat where it rubbed the frame pretty quick, so it looks like shit without it, but it looks pretty good with the skidplate on. I would also definitely recommend frame guards/grip tape, and clear vinyl wherever you rub the bike. My next piece of advice is that anything that flexes (Motor Mounts) or has a hole in it, (Subframe Mounting Points) is going to be the first to start to chip. I also would recommend not powdercoating your swingarm because adjacent to each weld, where it flexes the most, will begin to flake off in that area. The bottom of the swingarm also looks pretty ragged after 60+ hours. This is just my experience, and I'm sure different bikes have different tendencies to wear areas more or less quickly than others.

Looks fine on a garage queen, otherwise don't bother.

I've been doing it for a few years on my bikes using a slightly textured powdercoat, with great luck. Pre-heating the frame helps. Skid plate and frame grip tape doesnt hurt to protect it from normal wear and tear.

I have had aluminum hubs, engine cases, misc. small parts and even magnesium components powder coated and it has all held up excellent for many years. Any legitimate powder coating company should know what is required to give you a satisfactory finish. The only thing preventing me from putting it on vintage race bike frames (steel) is that if and when future repairs are needed it is always easier to remove automotive paint than it is to remove powder. Tough stuff, it is. Once it is powder coated, there really is no turning back. You can have it powder coated again in the future, but it will never be back to a nice brushed aluminum frame again.

Powder coat will hold up better than raw aluminum, or anodized aluminum