Business Segments (Information By Strategic Business Units) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 25, 2016	Sep. 27, 2015	Sep. 25, 2016	Sep. 27, 2015
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	$ 1,091,630	$ 1,140,321	$ 4,338,353	$ 4,301,674
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	292,710	286,865	904,322	866,558
Financial Services revenue	183,183	177,109	547,505	513,093
Operating income	178,376	215,836	979,526	1,088,470
Operating Segments \| Motorcycles
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	1,091,630	1,140,321	4,338,353	4,301,674
Gross profit	367,019	394,039	1,564,857	1,631,528
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	258,090	250,974	800,722	762,406
Operating income	108,929	143,065	764,135	869,122
Operating Segments \| Financial Services
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Financial Services revenue	183,183	177,109	547,505	513,093
Financial Services expense	113,736	104,338	332,114	293,745
Operating income	$ 69,447	$ 72,771	$ 215,391	$ 219,348

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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