The start up bang is "normal" for the older 07-10 comps and is caused by the weak springs which are part of the rotor assembly - poor design.
That is to say, nearly all 07 through 10 bikes startup-bang, and the comp is not actually bad.... yet.
When you start to feel massive driveline slack, continuous rattling, and/or when shutting down you hear a shutdown-bang-clack, it's a sign your springs are done or the comp itself is worn out.

So...you might be fine for another 20K+ miles. However, Yes, it's a good idea to move to the newest design, but you may not actually need to now as yours sounds like any other bike of that year right from the showroom floor.

On a related note: The weak point of the 07-10 comp was really just the springs.
When HD went to the new comp design it added stronger, larger springs - which was good - but at the same time introduced complicated internal comp parts that failed early due to being oil starved.
Enter all the revisions to address that issue.

If you take a look at the baker design, it's nearly the same design of the 07-10 comp but now using the newer, larger, heavier, springs.
Good direction... going backwards to a comp design that has been used for years but now with better springs.
I'm sure there is more to the baker than that but basically it's an improved 07-10 styled comp.

 

Some good points here but also brings up some observations..

Why didn't HD go to heavier springs on the early comps?

The early SE comp is prone to fretting on the inner bearing where the sprocket rides which is an oil problem. I suspect that some of the issue is also the load bearing surface on the spoke it too narrow.. While more oil helps the load bearing surface. Ir may not be the root cause.. HD saw to widen the cam some to increase the surface..

Has there been any failures with the newest SE comp? The needle thrust bearing reduces friction in the comp so I can see a start / stop rattle which may freak out some of the guys that had early comps die but it may not effect life.. For those that don't like the start / stop rattle, the Compensaver kit changes the needle bearing to a fiber thrust washer.

From what I see the Baker comp is really based on the 65 to 06 comp. It even looks like some of the parts were "borrowed" the spring pack, cam, shaft extension and base of the sprocket look almost the same.

Two concerns I have bout the Baker comp.. The construction looks as tho the cams may not get enough oil.. I could be wrong as there may be enough oil from the chain could wedge itself between the sprocket and alternator rotor to gush through those wholes and keep the cams wet.. I'm also concerned about the offset of sprocket to the bearing surface that it rides on.. All previous comps had the sprocket centered over the bearing it rode on.

In the mean time, I suspect that any solution will require time as with any mechanical device, it can fail or difference reasons.. Even the early comps have failed (65-06).. The more different designs out there on the road the better.. Need a good population to sample for an idea of which is going to survive.

 

Baker's comp is similar to the 06 & earlier comp, not the 07-10, it uses a double ramp rather than a ramp & spoke design. Time will tell, but so far the testing has been positive.

 

The spoke design didn't come into until 2011.

The 07-10 was a double ramp design with three valleys/peaks - like the baker. 06 and below had a double ramp with a single valley/peak.

Right? I think anyway looking at the parts of those deals.

Does the baker use external springs on the outside (nut side) like the 06? It almost looks to me like the springs would go behind the comp like 07+, up against the rotor.
Which is one reason it uses the 2011+ rotor. I dunno, I guess... maybe Mark will pipe in and set us(me) straight.
Kinda does look like the spring (which they don't picture from some reason) would be right behind the nut maybe.
That would be cool because we know that worked for years and years...

 

I have already had one failure of a compensator. It is good to know that there is a higher quality replacement part.

 

Apologies lp, you are correct I forgot that the first version was a ramp design, it's too bad someone doesn't make a better spring pack for that design using the later rotor, that might be a better solution all around.

 

No apology needed hoss. It does get confusing and I'm not saying anything I'm saying is total fact. Just an opinion.

But yeah... I've often thought about actually trying what you're suggesting. Something like use a 2011 rotor and spring set behind a 07 comp.
Prob wouldn't fit out of the box but slightly modified? Who knows.

Then I've actually thought about cutting the spring housing off a 07 rotor and using a 2011 spring set between that and the comp but I don't know if the 07 rotor is strong enough...
Would hate to see a rotor fold up and destroy everything in there while I'm being a cheap ***...

 

The original spoked comp was available as SE in 2009.. While some were used on, I think, the SE bikes, it didn't com stock until the 96 ci motors went to 103 which was 2011..

Look at the Box pic on reply #8 You can see that the spring pack looks similar to the early pack.. The hole in the middle needs to be smaller since there is no longer a 3/4 shouldered nut but simply a 9/16 bolt.. If you look at the pics you can tell that the sprocket cup side faces out so the cam and spring pack slide into the sprocket.. They have to be on the outside.

I seem to remember, the up to 06 comps actually used 6 contact points instead of 3 that are on the 07-09 comp and the 3 to the spokes on the SE comp.. 6 would definitely reduce wear.. Need to verify this tho and I don't have an early comp sitting around to check out...

 

After going to the trouble of redesigning and tooling up to build compensators, I'm just curious why they didn't go ahead and fill that void in the market and offer alternate sprockets with less than 34 teeth.

 

Patience! All being well they will follow.....