In the process of changing the wheels and tires on my 11 RKC. Do you really have to remove the front (ABS Side) brake caliper to get the wheel off?
Reading the Service Manual makes it look harder than it should be. Rear wheel also.
I removed my Fatboy wheels a few times and it was pretty straight forward.

Should I get the new wheels balanced with the rotors and sprocket on them, or does it really matter?

 

While it may be possible to remove the wheel without removing the caliper, it will take a lot longer. It only takes a couple of minutes to get the caliper off and couple of minutes to put it back on. I can only imagine the amount of time and frustration trying to get the wheel back into place plus slip the sensor in while the caliper is still mounted.

Removing the ABS sensor and matching caliper is no more difficult than removing the other caliper and spacer.