Business Segments (Information By Strategic Business Units) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 27, 2015	Sep. 28, 2014	Sep. 27, 2015	Sep. 28, 2014
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	$ 1,140,321	$ 1,130,558	$ 4,301,674	$ 4,536,531
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	286,865	279,935	866,558	842,512
Financial Services revenue	177,109	171,046	513,093	491,820
Operating income	215,836	224,073	1,088,470	1,182,650
Motorcycles [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	1,140,321	1,130,558	4,301,674	4,536,531
Gross profit	394,039	394,600	1,631,528	1,710,870
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	250,974	248,286	762,406	743,608
Operating income	143,065	146,314	869,122	967,262
Financial Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Financial Services revenue	177,109	171,046	513,093	491,820
Financial services expense	104,338	93,287	293,745	276,432
Operating income	$ 72,771	$ 77,759	$ 219,348	$ 215,388

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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