Business Segments (Information By Strategic Business Units) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 26, 2016	Jun. 28, 2015	Jun. 26, 2016	Jun. 28, 2015
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	$ 1,670,113	$ 1,650,783	$ 3,246,723	$ 3,161,353
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	319,844	301,944	611,612	579,693
Financial Services revenue	190,964	173,609	364,322	335,984
Operating income	412,322	462,516	801,150	872,634
Operating Segments \| Motorcycles
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	1,670,113	1,650,783	3,246,723	3,161,353
Gross profit	607,558	647,214	1,197,838	1,237,489
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	284,809	266,611	542,632	511,432
Operating income	322,749	380,603	655,206	726,057
Operating Segments \| Financial Services
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Financial Services revenue	190,964	173,609	364,322	335,984
Financial Services expense	101,391	91,696	218,378	189,407
Operating income	$ 89,573	$ 81,913	$ 145,944	$ 146,577

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.

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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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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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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=63488584&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=68048583&loc=d3e3636-108311

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