Two things:
One, being "the most honorable" has never really been shown to be that advantageous in the entire time I've played (since 1998). The Crane's enemies have pretty casually gone to war with us even though being "the most honorable" seems like it should have serious repercussions for that.
This is also tied into the harrier thing. I don't think those of us around in those years would have enjoyed them so much if we'd really felt a strong need to be "the most honorable." Not being honorable at all hasn't really done much to hurt clans like the Mantis and Crab, and their narratives seemed more coherent during that time period.
I suppose that if being "the most honorable" actually felt significant, then I'd be less inclined to sacrifice it for harriers.
Two, I agree with everything Yoshi said. If those things were true, and if being "the most honorable" had really power behind it, then I'd be happy to go along with everyone else here.