There do apear to be some changes going on with sales plans for the US. Both South Bay Norton/Triumph in California and RPM in Texas claim to be dealers, and are taking deposits, but the official Norton web site,
http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/
shows no dealers in the US, only a distributor with a PO Box address in Connecticut. The Norton web site used to show South Bay as the only US dealer, but for some reason they have been removed. In any case, after reading the interview in Cycle News with the CEO, it's quite clear that we won't see any in the US for quite a while.
Much as I admire them (I have a weakness for Nortons and pushrod engines), I'm afraid I'm getting older and feebler (and poorer) at a faster rate than they are ramping up production. I think I'll just have to make do with my old Commandos. On second thought, that's not so bad after all.
Concerning the written agreement that goes with a deposit, the only one I have seen is the South Bay Norton form, and they make no promises about delivery time. Basically, you pay your deposit, and they agree to put you in the que for a bike and notify you of the "scheduled production date". I'm not a lawyer, but there doesn't seem to be much room to litigate there, even if it takes a couple of years to get a bike.
Ken