Reportable Segments and Geographic Information (Information By Strategic Business Units) (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of reportable segments \| segment	2
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	$ 5,271,376	$ 5,308,744	$ 5,567,681
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	1,217,439	1,220,095	1,159,502
Financial Services revenue	725,082	686,658	660,827
Operating income	1,048,936	1,155,695	1,280,983
Intersegment Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Financial Services revenue	4,400	6,900	8,100
Motorcycles
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	5,271,376	5,308,744	5,567,681
Gross profit	1,851,666	1,952,460	2,025,080
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	1,078,260	1,076,970	1,021,933
Operating income	773,406	875,490	1,003,147
Financial Services
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Financial Services revenue	725,082	686,658	660,827
Financial Services expense	449,552	406,453	382,991
Operating income	$ 275,530	$ 280,205	$ 277,836

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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Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

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

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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.

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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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