Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Apr. 01, 2012	Mar. 27, 2011
Revenue:
Motorcycles and related products	$ 1,273,369	$ 1,063,044
Financial services	156,322	161,886
Total revenue	1,429,691	1,224,930
Costs and expenses:
Motorcycles and related products cost of goods sold	816,859	711,178
Financial services interest expense	51,256	58,035
Financial services provision for credit losses	9,014	5,606
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	265,653	234,115
Restructuring expense	11,451	22,999
Total costs and expenses	1,154,233	1,031,933
Operating income	275,458	192,997
Investment income	1,933	1,398
Interest expense	11,495	11,481
Income before provision for income taxes	265,896	182,914
Provision for income taxes	93,861	63,654
Income from continuing operations	172,035	119,260
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax
Net income	$ 172,035	$ 119,260
Earnings per common share from continuing operations:
Basic	$ 0.75	$ 0.51
Diluted	$ 0.74	$ 0.51
Loss per common share from discontinued operations:
Basic
Diluted
Earnings per common share:
Basic	$ 0.75	$ 0.51
Diluted	$ 0.74	$ 0.51
Cash dividends per common share	$ 0.155	$ 0.10