pereill - Welcome!

A used Rebel would get you more bike for little money, but get the Heist. The Rebels are sweet and I've seen some awesome bobbers come from them, but not without a considerable amount of work. Unless you spend $$$ on the Blue Collars Bobbers kit and just bolt it all on.

The mods you want to do hardly sound like "butchering" I wouldn't sweat it. I would probably skip wiring inside the frame and concentrate on just cleaning up the electrical at the front of the bike. Some smaller switch pods with the wiring run inside a new set of bars, done deal.

The fenders can be chopped in an hour with a cut off wheel. Spray bomb everything flat black. I've seen bikes from PIT motors with red powdercoated wheels, I'm sure you could have them done black.

The Heist is a great first chopper. The Rebel is a great first bike. I can tell you're not going to ride either one stock for very long. The Heist is made for a first timers butchering.