CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2015	Mar. 30, 2014
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
Net cash provided by operating activities	$ 174,700	$ 203,586
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(38,069)	(25,881)
Origination of finance receivables	(752,404)	(757,965)
Collections on finance receivables	729,666	707,431
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities	0	6,001
Other	9	51
Net cash used by investing activities	(60,798)	(70,363)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of Unsecured Debt	0	(303,000)
Proceeds from Issuance of Medium-term Notes	595,386	0
Proceeds from Securitization Debt	697,591	0
Repayments of Securitization Debt	200,695	159,938
Proceeds from (Repayments of) Credit Facility and Other Unsecured Debt	(661,241)	307,803
Borrowings of asset-backed commercial paper	16,798	13,746
Repayments of asset-backed commercial paper	(15,744)	(16,981)
Net change in restricted cash	(28,579)	26,924
Dividends paid	(65,467)	(60,527)
Purchase of common stock for treasury	(192,700)	(87,690)
Excess tax benefits from share-based payments	2,207	4,763
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	9,605	8,894
Net cash provided by (used by) financing activities	157,161	(266,006)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(9,019)	1,991
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	262,044	(130,792)
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period	906,680	1,066,612
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	262,044	(130,792)
Cash and cash equivalents—end of period	1,168,724	935,820
Financial Services Operations [Member]
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
Net cash provided by operating activities	509,069	480,697
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(829)	(1,190)
Origination of finance receivables	(2,008,170)	(1,992,601)
Collections on finance receivables	1,519,934	1,502,645
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities		0
Other	0	0
Net cash used by investing activities	(489,065)	(491,146)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of Unsecured Debt		0
Proceeds from Issuance of Medium-term Notes	595,386
Proceeds from Securitization Debt	697,591
Repayments of Securitization Debt	200,695	159,938
Proceeds from (Repayments of) Credit Facility and Other Unsecured Debt	(661,241)	307,803
Repayments of asset-backed commercial paper		(16,981)
Net change in restricted cash	(28,579)	26,924
Dividends paid	(100,000)	(120,000)
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 provided by (used by) financing activities	53,516	51,554
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(1,756)	(1,277)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	71,764	39,828
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period	332,785	347,700
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	71,764	39,828
Cash and cash equivalents—end of period	404,549	387,528
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	231,129	282,311
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(37,240)	(24,691)
Origination of finance receivables	0	0
Collections on finance receivables	0	0
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities		6,001
Other	9	51
Net cash used by investing activities	(37,231)	(18,639)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of Unsecured Debt		(303,000)
Proceeds from Issuance of Medium-term Notes	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	(65,467)	(60,527)
Purchase of common stock for treasury	(192,700)	(87,690)
Excess tax benefits from share-based payments	2,207	4,763
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	9,605	8,894
Net cash provided by (used by) financing activities	3,645	(437,560)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(7,263)	3,268
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	190,280	(170,620)
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period	573,895	718,912
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	190,280	(170,620)
Cash and cash equivalents—end of period	$ 764,175	$ 548,292