Consolidated Statements Of Operations - USD ($) $ in Thousands		12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Revenue:
Motorcycles and Related Products	[1]	$ 5,308,744	$ 5,567,681	$ 5,258,290
Financial Services	[1]	686,658	660,827	641,582
Total revenue		5,995,402	6,228,508	5,899,872
Costs and expenses:
Motorcycles and Related Products cost of goods sold		3,356,284	3,542,601	3,395,918
Financial Services interest expense		161,983	164,476	165,491
Financial Services provision for credit losses		101,345	80,946	60,008
Selling, administrative and engineering expense		1,220,095	1,159,502	1,124,753
Total costs and expenses		4,839,707	4,947,525	4,746,170
Operating income		1,155,695	1,280,983	1,153,702
Investment income		6,585	6,499	5,859
Interest expense		12,117	4,162	45,256
Income before provision for income taxes		1,150,163	1,283,320	1,114,305
Provision for income taxes		397,956	438,709	380,312
Income from continuing operations		752,207	844,611	733,993
Net income		$ 752,207	$ 844,611	$ 733,993
Earnings per common share from continuing operations:
Basic (in dollars per share)		$ 3.71	$ 3.90	$ 3.30
Diluted (in dollars per share)		3.69	3.88	3.28
Earnings per common share:
Basic (in dollars per share)		3.71	3.90	3.30
Diluted (in dollars per share)		3.69	3.88	3.28
Cash dividends per common share (in dollars per share)		$ 1.24	$ 1.1	$ 0.84

[1] Revenue is attributed to geographic regions based on location of customer.