IMHO Not rare at all.
I believe that is a function of marketing ( or lack therof ). Most of my non-riding friends know the Honda name and can relate to the Goldwing or one of the crotch rockets, think CBR series. I have found that to be the case with many of my riding friends too. While Honda is the largest motorcycle maker in the world. The US market just isn't that big in the grand scheme of things for everything motorcycle except H-D of course and even here Honda outsells H-D.