CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 28, 2014	Sep. 29, 2013
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
Net cash provided by operating activities	$ 966,868	$ 825,103
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(120,316)	(111,690)
Origination of finance receivables	(2,918,881)	(2,617,100)
Collections on finance receivables	2,308,237	2,170,919
Payments to Acquire Marketable Securities	0	4,998
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities	41,010	17,105
Other	275	6,721
Net cash used by investing activities	(689,675)	(539,043)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of Unsecured Debt	(303,000)	0
Proceeds from Issuance of Medium-term Notes	594,431	0
Repayments of Medium-term Notes	7,220	27,858
Proceeds from Securitization Debt	847,126	647,516
Repayments of Securitization Debt	631,302	650,424
Proceeds from (Repayments of) Credit Facility and Other Unsecured Debt	(315,278)	99,416
Borrowings of asset-backed commercial paper	57,669	69,555
Repayments of asset-backed commercial paper	(58,717)	(58,990)
Net change in restricted cash	2,521	(6,321)
Dividends paid	(179,860)	(140,772)
Purchase of common stock for treasury	(393,459)	(302,196)
Excess tax benefits from share-based payments	8,873	18,444
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	28,850	39,145
Net cash used by financing activities	(349,366)	(312,485)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(14,573)	(11,758)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(86,746)	(38,183)
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period	1,066,612	1,068,138
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(86,746)	(38,183)
Cash and cash equivalents—end of period	979,866	1,029,955
Financial Services Operations [Member]
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
Net cash provided by operating activities	542,120	521,444
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(4,720)	(3,804)
Origination of finance receivables	(6,417,038)	(5,832,489)
Collections on finance receivables	5,613,949	5,314,439
Payments to Acquire Marketable Securities		0
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities	0	0
Other	0	0
Net cash used by investing activities	(807,809)	(521,854)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of Unsecured Debt	0
Proceeds from Issuance of Medium-term Notes	594,431
Repayments of Medium-term Notes	7,220	27,858
Proceeds from Securitization Debt	847,126
Repayments of Securitization Debt	631,302	650,424
Proceeds from (Repayments of) Credit Facility and Other Unsecured Debt	(315,278)	99,416
Repayments of asset-backed commercial paper		(58,990)
Net change in restricted cash	2,521	(6,321)
Dividends paid	(120,000)	(185,000)
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 financing activities	269,230	37,894
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(1,509)	(912)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	2,032	36,572
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period	347,700	340,422
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	2,032	36,572
Cash and cash equivalents—end of period	349,732	376,994
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from Issuance of Medium-term Notes	0
Motorcycles And Related Products Operations [Member]
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
Net cash provided by operating activities	737,193	560,528
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(115,596)	(107,886)
Origination of finance receivables	0	0
Collections on finance receivables	0	0
Payments to Acquire Marketable Securities		4,998
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities	41,010	17,105
Other	275	6,721
Net cash used by investing activities	(74,311)	(89,058)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of Unsecured Debt	(303,000)
Proceeds from Issuance of Medium-term Notes	0
Repayments of Medium-term Notes	0	0
Proceeds from Securitization Debt	0
Repayments of Securitization Debt	0	0
Proceeds from (Repayments of) Credit Facility and Other Unsecured Debt	0	0
Repayments of asset-backed commercial paper		0
Net change in restricted cash	0	0
Dividends paid	(179,860)	(140,772)
Purchase of common stock for treasury	(393,459)	(302,196)
Excess tax benefits from share-based payments	8,873	18,444
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	28,850	39,145
Net cash used by financing activities	(738,596)	(535,379)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(13,064)	(10,846)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(88,778)	(74,755)
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period	718,912	727,716
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(88,778)	(74,755)
Cash and cash equivalents—end of period	$ 630,134	$ 652,961