Business Segments (Information By Strategic Business Units) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Apr. 01, 2018	Mar. 26, 2017
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	$ 1,363,947	$ 1,328,711
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	290,186	271,984
Restructuring expense	46,842	0
Financial Services revenue	178,174	173,221
Operating income	236,417	289,182
Motorcycles and Related Products
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	1,363,947
Restructuring expense	46,842
Financial Services
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Financial Services revenue	178,174
Operating Segments \| Motorcycles and Related Products
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue	1,363,947	1,328,711
Gross profit	473,773	474,823
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	254,093	238,277
Restructuring expense	46,842	0
Operating income	172,838	236,546
Operating Segments \| Financial Services
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Financial Services revenue	178,174	173,221
Financial Services expense	114,595	120,585
Operating income	$ 63,579	$ 52,636

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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Amount of expenses associated with exit or disposal activities pursuant to an authorized plan. Excludes expenses related to a discontinued operation or an asset retirement obligation.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 420
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
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-Publisher FASB
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-Section 45
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3602-108585

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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.

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-Publisher FASB
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-Publisher FASB
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