Consolidated Statements Of Operations (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Revenue:
Motorcycles and related products	$ 4,942,582,000	$ 4,662,264,000	$ 4,176,627,000
Financial services	637,924,000	649,449,000	682,709,000
Total revenue	5,580,506,000	5,311,713,000	4,859,336,000
Costs and expenses:
Motorcycles and related products cost of goods sold	3,222,394,000	3,106,288,000	2,749,224,000
Financial services interest expense	195,990,000	229,492,000	272,484,000
Financial services provision for credit losses	22,239,000	17,031,000	93,118,000
Selling, administrative and engineering expense	1,111,232,000	1,060,943,000	1,020,371,000
Restructuring expense and asset impairment	28,475,000	67,992,000	163,508,000
Total costs and expenses	4,580,330,000	4,481,746,000	4,298,705,000
Operating income	1,000,176,000	829,967,000	560,631,000
Investment income	7,369,000	7,963,000	5,442,000
Interest expense	46,033,000	45,266,000	90,357,000
Loss on debt extinguishment	0	0	85,247,000
Income before provision for income taxes	961,512,000	792,664,000	390,469,000
Provision for income taxes	337,587,000	244,586,000	130,800,000
Income from continuing operations	623,925,000	548,078,000	259,669,000
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	51,036,000	(113,124,000)
Net income (loss)	$ 623,925,000	$ 599,114,000	$ 146,545,000
Earnings per common share from continuing operations:
Basic	$ 2.75	$ 2.35	$ 1.11
Diluted	$ 2.72	$ 2.33	$ 1.11
Earnings (loss) per common share from discontinued operations:
Basic	$ 0.00	$ 0.22	$ (0.48)
Diluted	$ 0.00	$ 0.22	$ (0.48)
Earnings (loss) per common share:
Basic	$ 2.75	$ 2.57	$ 0.63
Diluted	$ 2.72	$ 2.55	$ 0.62
Cash dividends per common share	$ 0.620	$ 0.475	$ 0.400