Colors (motorcycling)

The habit referred to motorcyclists scene a sleeveless denim or leather jacket, for carrying the insignia of a rocker club or a carpool.

Function

With the cowl of the carrier expresses his affiliation with his motorcycle club or a danger Community. Furthermore, many motorcyclists wear robes without badge of your own clubs, be it that their club any badge leads public or the institution not in a group. Many cowl carrier wear badges and patches of her befriended clubs on the cowl, which can range from only a few selected up to a comprehensive collection that are several times above the other sewn. In addition, some robes, from different motives, with attached items such as plaques, pins, buttons and rivets, decorated. These have a character amulet for the wearer to part or can also be purely decorative.

Members of large and international clubs usually wear only the badge of their own club or their club community. In particular, there are certain rules that specify exactly where each patch may be affixed. On the front of the cowl they wear often in the chest name and, depending on the function in the club, official titles such as president, vice or sample, or their English names. The side rocker is usually a more accurate Chapter designation or displays befriended Chapter.

The cowl is simply the status icon in the Rocker subculture. Larger clubs consider the cowl as club ownership, ie in the case of dismissal of a member of the club can reclaim the cowl. The member is responsible for the safety of the cowl. If it loses it, he will be punished. This can result from simple sentences of up to exclusion from the club. Many cowl support, it is totally unacceptable that their habit is touched by strangers. They see this as an attack on themselves and their club at. Until the mid- 1990s the " trophy collection " was among warring clubs usual. It was necessary for the person concerned as a particular shame when it his habit has been removed. The cowl was then suspended usually in the clubhouse and / or the owner passed against a " ransom ". In special cases, the cowl was also destroyed. Even if a display is valid under rockers frowned upon, the early 2000s, some methods have been sought. Legally, it may be the Kuttenklau an offense under § 249 of the Penal Code ( robbery) or 250 of the Penal Code ( Robbery ) act.

At the beginning of the leather robes had to be tailored mostly self. Although there were no specific rules, but they were three-piece suits, which were connected with rivets and leather laces, common. Over time, producers absorbed the rocker style, so that today it is possible to buy the cowl models of the rod.

Formation

Initially, in the 1970s and the following years contributed Motorcycle Rocker predominantly Jean robes. Since the 1990s, the fashion went on to leather cowl with cowl-wearers for different reasons. This can have the one practical reasons. Leather cowls are against Jean robes durable and less susceptible to dirt. Jean robes often stink after long wearing and driving in the rain and they wear out faster than robes of leather with time. Leather robes appear in the eyes of many carriers simply "cool ".

As with the metal cowls washing or cleaning the cowl is an absolute taboo.

Whether the name cowl from the phonetic similarity of the American cut-off (ie, cut-off sleeves ) results, is doubted in the scene. Other subcultures and Männerbünde describe her outfit as a habit. Much more seems obvious that the cowl was introduced by the Hells Angels who come from California. As it is there mostly hot and dry, the normal function of clothing when riding a motorcycle, the motorcycle jacket, simply was not practical.

Cowl baptism

The cowl Baptism is an ancient custom among rockers, but which is now seldom practiced and usually restricted to smaller clubs. Within the scene, it marks the transition from Prospect towards full membership for the member. On the day of his appointment, the Prospect gets its patch or its complete cowl presented, which is however before that inaugurated. This can be done in various ways, which are listed here as an example (referring to Ahlsdorf 2004):

• Cowl Burnout: A motorcycle is started on the cowl and the tires rotated.
• Hiding: The Prospect must Patches from a particularly nasty or complicated hiding out get ( for example, a pig's head, bucket or bottle with liquid, a specially prepared mud pit, concrete block ).
• The mud pit: The Prospect is thrown into a previously prepared mud pit.
• Drinking rituals
• Tarring and feathering.
• Pee on

Others

In April 2012, the Federal Constitutional Court dismissed a complaint by a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (2 BvR 2405/11 ). This, however, had complained that motorcycle jackets with "Hells Angels " inscription were banned during a court hearing.

On the occasion of the Kiel Week 2011 imposed the city of Kiel, a ban on wearing insignia of a total of 14 Motorcycle Clubs, practically a habit ban within the event site. Due to the ban on wearing the usual in the scene Onepercenter patch but also more cowl carriers were excluded. The Dirty Pack MC successfully sued against the ban, and its name was subsequently removed from the collection.