Firstly, to suggest that the 'General & Off Topic Section' is a place where effectively anything goes is the decision of the site owner and not the forum users.
I am of the opinion that there are rules, guidelines and etiquette which should be adhered to for the benefit of the Retrobike forum and the Retrobike community as a whole.
These should be respected, otherwise this forum could easily become a place where offensive behaviour, opinions and people become the norm rather than the minority.
While I am a firm advocate for freedom of speech, I am a greater advocate of respect.
Alot of time and discussion takes place on well moderated forums like Retrobike, and I know that decisions aren't taken lightly.
In terms of Marin Man:
Clearly Scott had already had several chances to get his act together, with temporary bans and warnings based on lesser infringements. He had been cut plenty of slack, but ultimately demonstrated a fundamental lack of respect for the forum rules and the Retrobike community as a whole.
To compound that, racist comments and abusive PMs show that his behaviour can't really be tolerated.
It's also true that some members, especially Marin Man had a reputation for repeatedly posting on threads, without actually adding much to that thread other than smilies and 'banter'.
For many this had the effect of devaluing the whole thread, and marking it as one to be avoided. I'm not saying that all MMs posts were like this, he did produce some informative and helpful threads.
So perhaps it's true that for some Marin Man had developed a reputation as someone who offered help, assistance and karma parts.
The reason he has made friends is probably partly due to this.
But he could also be very irritating, not always on purpose but sometimes he did seem to enjoy his notoriety.
But behind his public forum persona, his 'friends' probably had no idea as to how nasty he could be.
His advocates will of course continue to defend MM based on the way they perceived him, whilst other will criticise based on their perceptions.
Ultimately though, the decision to ban Scott was based on clear infringements of the rules, which if left unchecked would be to the detriment of every member.
