Business Segments And Foreign Operations (Information By Strategic Business Units) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 25, 2011	Jun. 26, 2011	Mar. 27, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 26, 2010	Jun. 28, 2010	Mar. 28, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010		Dec. 31, 2009
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue									$ 4,662,264,000	[1]	$ 4,176,627,000	[1]	$ 4,287,130,000	[1]
Restructuring expense and other impairments									67,992,000		163,508,000		224,278,000
Operating income (loss)									829,967,000		560,631,000		196,086,000
Financial services revenue									649,449,000		682,709,000		494,779,000
Goodwill impairment													28,387,000
Restructuring expense	19,000,000	12,400,000	13,600,000	23,000,000	17,700,000	67,500,000	30,100,000	48,300,000
Impairment of retained securitization interests													45,370,000
Motorcycles Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Motorcycles net revenue									4,662,264,000		4,176,627,000		4,287,130,000
Gross profit									1,555,976,000		1,427,403,000		1,386,196,000
Selling, administrative and engineering expense									926,808,000		885,137,000		851,165,000
Restructuring expense and other impairments									67,992,000		163,508,000		220,976,000
Operating income (loss)									561,176,000		378,758,000		314,055,000
Financial Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating income (loss)									268,791,000	[2],[3],[4]	181,873,000	[2],[3],[4]	(117,969,000)	[2],[3],[4]
Financial services revenue									649,449,000		682,709,000		494,779,000
Financial services expense									380,658,000		500,836,000		581,059,000
Goodwill impairment													28,387,000
Restructuring expense													3,302,000
Lower cost or market adjustment													5,900,000
Impairment of retained securitization interests													45,400,000
Interest of Financial Services revenue									$ 10,500,000		$ 9,200,000		$ 14,700,000

[1] Revenue is attributed to geographic regions based on location of customer.

[2] Financial Services operating income for 2010 includes the effects of consolidating formerly unconsolidated QSPEs (see Note 1).

[3] Financial Services operating (loss) income for 2009 includes a lower of cost or market adjustment of $5.9 million

[4] Financial Services operating (loss) income for 2009 includes an impairment charge of $45.4 million (see Note 7)