So the original question was " are Hondas made to get wet in the rain?"
I would have never guessed the instructions say that. Never seen a set of instructions for any of the hundreds of portable generators I've used over the last 25 years.
The answer is a resounding yes and the instructions must be intended as some sort of electrical safety precaution for liability sake.
Problem is, the folks that said yes it's fine, been doing it for xxx amount of time were staring from experience. Those that cover them said , no you can't because I cover mine. Read the instructions, treat it like a classic car, etc. no one said, from experience that it was detrimental to the equipment and then are defensive that someone would go against the instructions!
All I can say is d mn near every one of you is old enough to remember when your entire life didn't come with instructions, so feel free to lay off those of us that make decisions with respect to intuition or experience.