Supplemental Consolidating Data (Cash Flows) (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Apr. 01, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net income	$ 224,129	$ 172,035
Depreciation	42,850	43,203
Amortization of deferred loan origination costs	19,753	18,547
Amortization of financing origination fees	2,204	2,743
Provision for employee long-term benefits	16,684	17,293
Contributions to pension and postretirement plans	(182,047)	(206,832)
Stock compensation expense	11,096	11,744
Net change in wholesale finance receivables	(336,927)	(151,046)
Provision for credit losses	13,110	9,014
Foreign currency adjustments	9,846	(2,911)
Other, net	(1,805)	1,505
Accounts receivable	(36,165)	(43,745)
Finance receivables-accrued interest and other	1,246	3,299
Inventories	(28,613)	(47,168)
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	79,861	117,460
Restructuring reserves	(12,388)	1,296
Derivative instruments	(342)	(486)
Other	69,019	(19,567)
Total adjustments	(332,618)	(245,651)
Net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations (Note 3)	(108,489)	(73,616)
Capital expenditures	(22,261)	(24,680)
Origination of finance receivables	(622,373)	(645,247)
Collections of finance receivables	665,520	681,904
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities	0	20,042
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities	6,656	0
Net cash (used by) provided by investing activities of continuing operations	27,542	32,019
Proceeds from issuance of medium-term notes	0	397,377
Loan to HDFS	0
Repayments of securitization debt	(178,923)	(333,026)
Net decrease in credit facilities and unsecured commercial paper	(392,564)	224,508
Net borrowings of asset-backed commercial paper	(17,063)	0
Net change in restricted cash	(9,017)	(17,340)
Dividends	(47,308)	(35,943)
Purchase of common stock for treasury	(126,411)	(20,745)
Excess tax benefits from share based payments	14,468	7,962
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	13,887	16,281
Net cash (used by) provided by financing activities of continuing operations	42,197	(209,942)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents of continuing operations	(10,629)	926
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(49,379)	(250,613)
Cash and cash equivalents-end of period	1,018,759	1,276,337	1,068,138	1,526,950
Motorcycles And Related Products Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net income	364,927	355,714
Depreciation	41,484	41,708
Amortization of deferred loan origination costs	0	0
Amortization of financing origination fees	118	118
Provision for employee long-term benefits	16,684	16,780
Contributions to pension and postretirement plans	(182,047)	(206,832)
Stock compensation expense	10,330	10,967
Net change in wholesale finance receivables	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0
Foreign currency adjustments	9,846	(2,911)
Other, net	(1,759)	(1,954)
Accounts receivable	(291,616)	(186,466)
Finance receivables-accrued interest and other	0	0
Inventories	(28,613)	(47,168)
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	21,476	57,993
Restructuring reserves	(12,388)	1,296
Derivative instruments	(328)	(390)
Other	66,976	(18,058)
Total adjustments	(349,837)	(334,917)
Net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations (Note 3)	15,090	20,797
Capital expenditures	(21,379)	(23,441)
Origination of finance receivables	0	0
Collections of finance receivables	0	0
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities		20,042
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities	6,656
Net cash (used by) provided by investing activities of continuing operations	(14,723)	(3,399)
Proceeds from issuance of medium-term notes		0
Loan to HDFS	100,000
Repayments of securitization debt	0	0
Net decrease in credit facilities and unsecured commercial paper	0	0
Net borrowings of asset-backed commercial paper	0
Net change in restricted cash	0	0
Dividends	(47,308)	(35,943)
Purchase of common stock for treasury	(126,411)	(20,745)
Excess tax benefits from share based payments	14,468	7,962
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	13,887	16,281
Net cash (used by) provided by financing activities of continuing operations	(45,364)	(32,445)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents of continuing operations	(9,742)	745
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(54,739)	(14,302)
Cash and cash equivalents-end of period	672,977	929,028	727,716	943,330
Financial Services Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net income	44,202	41,321
Depreciation	1,366	1,495
Amortization of deferred loan origination costs	19,753	18,547
Amortization of financing origination fees	2,086	2,625
Provision for employee long-term benefits	0	513
Contributions to pension and postretirement plans	0	0
Stock compensation expense	766	777
Net change in wholesale finance receivables	0	0
Provision for credit losses	13,110	9,014
Foreign currency adjustments	0	0
Other, net	(46)	3,459
Accounts receivable	0	0
Finance receivables-accrued interest and other	1,246	3,299
Inventories	0	0
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	313,836	202,188
Restructuring reserves	0	0
Derivative instruments	(14)	(96)
Other	2,043	(1,509)
Total adjustments	354,146	240,312
Net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations (Note 3)	398,348	281,633
Capital expenditures	(882)	(1,239)
Origination of finance receivables	(1,744,023)	(1,617,867)
Collections of finance receivables	1,450,243	1,503,478
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities		0
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities	0
Net cash (used by) provided by investing activities of continuing operations	(294,662)	(115,628)
Proceeds from issuance of medium-term notes		397,377
Loan to HDFS	100,000
Repayments of securitization debt	(178,923)	(333,026)
Net decrease in credit facilities and unsecured commercial paper	(392,564)	224,508
Net borrowings of asset-backed commercial paper	(17,063)
Net change in restricted cash	(9,017)	(17,340)
Dividends	(185,000)	(225,000)
Purchase of common stock for treasury	0	0
Excess tax benefits from share based payments	0	0
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	0	0
Net cash (used by) provided by financing activities of continuing operations	(97,439)	(402,497)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents of continuing operations	(887)	181
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	5,360	(236,311)
Cash and cash equivalents-end of period	345,782	347,309	340,422	583,620
Eliminations & Adjustments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net income	(185,000)	(225,000)
Depreciation	0	0
Amortization of deferred loan origination costs	0	0
Amortization of financing origination fees	0	0
Provision for employee long-term benefits	0	0
Contributions to pension and postretirement plans	0	0
Stock compensation expense	0	0
Net change in wholesale finance receivables	(336,927)	(151,046)
Provision for credit losses	0	0
Foreign currency adjustments	0	0
Other, net	0	0
Accounts receivable	255,451	142,721
Finance receivables-accrued interest and other	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	(255,451)	(142,721)
Restructuring reserves	0	0
Derivative instruments	0	0
Other	0	0
Total adjustments	(336,927)	(151,046)
Net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations (Note 3)	(521,927)	(376,046)
Capital expenditures	0	0
Origination of finance receivables	1,121,650	972,620
Collections of finance receivables	(784,723)	(821,574)
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities		0
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities	0
Net cash (used by) provided by investing activities of continuing operations	336,927	151,046
Proceeds from issuance of medium-term notes		0
Loan to HDFS	0
Repayments of securitization debt	0	0
Net decrease in credit facilities and unsecured commercial paper	0	0
Net borrowings of asset-backed commercial paper	0
Net change in restricted cash	0	0
Dividends	185,000	225,000
Purchase of common stock for treasury	0	0
Excess tax benefits from share based payments	0	0
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	0	0
Net cash (used by) provided by financing activities of continuing operations	185,000	225,000
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents of continuing operations	0	0
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents-end of period	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0