Business Segments (Information By Strategic Business Units) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 24, 2017	Sep. 25, 2016	Sep. 24, 2017	Sep. 25, 2016
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	$ 962,136	$ 1,091,630	$ 3,867,982	$ 4,338,353
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	293,904	292,710	857,704	904,322
Financial Services revenue	189,059	183,183	550,314	547,505
Operating income	96,708	178,376	789,768	979,526
Operating Segments \| Motorcycles
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	962,136	1,091,630	3,867,982	4,338,353
Gross profit	276,975	367,019	1,330,083	1,564,857
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	257,327	258,090	751,946	800,722
Operating income	19,648	108,929	578,137	764,135
Operating Segments \| Financial Services
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Financial Services revenue	189,059	183,183	550,314	547,505
Financial Services expense	111,999	113,736	338,683	332,114
Operating income	$ 77,060	$ 69,447	$ 211,631	$ 215,391

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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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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