Business Segments (Information By Strategic Business Units) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 28, 2015	Jun. 29, 2014	Jun. 28, 2015	Jun. 29, 2014
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	$ 1,650,783	$ 1,834,285	$ 3,161,353	$ 3,405,973
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	301,944	286,156	579,693	562,577
Financial Services revenue	173,609	166,414	335,984	320,774
Operating income	462,516	547,695	872,634	958,577
Motorcycles [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	1,650,783	1,834,285	3,161,353	3,405,973
Gross profit	647,214	724,139	1,237,489	1,316,270
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	266,611	250,883	511,432	495,322
Operating income	380,603	473,256	726,057	820,948
Financial Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Financial Services revenue	173,609	166,414	335,984	320,774
Financial services expense	91,696	91,975	189,407	183,145
Operating income	$ 81,913	$ 74,439	$ 146,577	$ 137,629

The aggregate costs incurred during the reporting period related to financial services rendered by an entity.

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The aggregate financial services revenue and operating interest income earned during the reporting period.

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Aggregate revenue less cost of goods and services sold or operating expenses directly attributable to the revenue generation activity.

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The net result for the period of deducting operating expenses from operating revenues.

+ References

No definition available.

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Aggregate revenue during the period from the sale of goods in the normal course of business, after deducting returns, allowances and discounts.

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

The aggregate total costs related to selling a firm's product and services, as well as all other general and administrative expenses. Direct selling expenses (for example, credit, warranty, and advertising) are expenses that can be directly linked to the sale of specific products. Indirect selling expenses are expenses that cannot be directly linked to the sale of specific products, for example telephone expenses, Internet, and postal charges. General and administrative expenses include salaries of non-sales personnel, rent, utilities, communication, etc.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 225

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.4)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26872669&loc=d3e20235-122688

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 330

-SubTopic 10

-Section 30

-Paragraph 8

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=34747878&loc=d3e3636-108311

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 03

-Paragraph 4

-Article 5

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