CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 28, 2015	Jun. 29, 2014
Net cash provided by operating activities	$ 613,944	$ 570,592
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(85,180)	(74,523)
Origination of finance receivables	(1,976,563)	(1,904,577)
Collections on finance receivables	1,570,431	1,518,186
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities	4,500	41,010
Other	5,111	145
Net cash used by investing activities	(481,701)	(419,759)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of Unsecured Debt	0	(303,000)
Proceeds from Issuance of Medium-term Notes	595,386	0
Repayments of Medium-term Notes	0	7,220
Proceeds from Securitization Debt	1,195,668	847,126
Repayments of Securitization Debt	454,332	393,655
Proceeds from (Repayments of) Credit Facility and Other Unsecured Debt	(616,586)	(48,134)
Borrowings of asset-backed commercial paper	40,209	36,800
Repayments of asset-backed commercial paper	(35,730)	(37,317)
Net change in restricted cash	(40,159)	(9,874)
Dividends paid	(129,745)	(120,631)
Purchase of common stock for treasury	(358,425)	(223,736)
Excess tax benefits from share-based payments	2,401	8,652
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	15,664	27,907
Net cash provided by (used by) financing activities	214,351	(223,082)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(5,695)	4,983
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	340,899	(67,266)
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period	906,680	1,066,612
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	340,899	(67,266)
Cash and cash equivalents—end of period	1,247,579	999,346
Financial Services Operations [Member]
Net cash provided by operating activities	573,421	547,919
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(1,898)	(3,128)
Origination of finance receivables	(4,526,313)	(4,580,910)
Collections on finance receivables	3,707,444	3,684,319
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities	0	0
Other	0	0
Net cash used by investing activities	(820,767)	(899,719)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of Unsecured Debt		0
Proceeds from Issuance of Medium-term Notes	595,386
Repayments of Medium-term Notes		7,220
Proceeds from Securitization Debt	1,195,668
Repayments of Securitization Debt	454,332	393,655
Proceeds from (Repayments of) Credit Facility and Other Unsecured Debt	(616,586)	(48,134)
Repayments of asset-backed commercial paper		(37,317)
Net change in restricted cash	(40,159)	(9,874)
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	334,456	367,726
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(605)	15
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	86,505	15,941
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period	332,785	347,700
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	86,505	15,941
Cash and cash equivalents—end of period	419,290	363,641
Motorcycles And Related Products Operations [Member]
Net cash provided by operating activities	553,260	652,873
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(83,282)	(71,395)
Origination of finance receivables	0	0
Collections on finance receivables	0	0
Sales and redemptions of marketable securities	4,500	41,010
Other	5,111	145
Net cash used by investing activities	(73,671)	(30,240)
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
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	(129,745)	(120,631)
Purchase of common stock for treasury	(358,425)	(223,736)
Excess tax benefits from share-based payments	2,401	8,652
Issuance of common stock under employee stock option plans	15,664	27,907
Net cash provided by (used by) financing activities	(220,105)	(710,808)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(5,090)	4,968
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	254,394	(83,207)
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period	573,895	718,912
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	254,394	(83,207)
Cash and cash equivalents—end of period	$ 828,289	$ 635,705