Most of the wiring on a potted motor is exposed. The geared connection to the machine is what's hidden. I like the potted motors, and I really like the 15s for free motion - I did one large lap quilt on my 15-90 before going to a frame system. It was largely part of my decision to focus on the quilting part of uh... quilting. They're also very robust machines. A great do everything machine.