I have had all three machines as well and each had their own personality. I will keep it to the 500 and 700-4 but if you want more information on the 1000 I'd be happy to include that too. For your reference, I do things "Bass Akwards"; I had the 1000 first, then the 500, then the 700.
The 500 was an awesome machine. On paper it looked "meh" but it was actually a lot of fun. I had 26 inch Kenda Bearclaw HTR's on it. I had a 2016 so it was paddle shift only and, I think, had a bit lower first gear. The suspension was pretty bad for spirited driving but it was fine for slow trail riding. My first few trail experiences with it were tight atv trails and it did this very well; but reminded you when you were going to fast. I took it on a trip to Hatfield McCoy and rode with a friend that was on a 2017 Honda Foreman. The 500 had the ability to do just about everything he did on the Foreman but required some winching when it got to some wet rocks that required a machine to be in diff lock. (or maybe it required a better driver?) I enjoyed the 500 here as well but the lack of suspension comfort made it so that I would not go back there without an upgraded suspension. In order to keep up with the Foreman, I had to be pretty uncomfortable and the bouncing created quite a bit of instability.
The ground clearance was adequate but because of the short wheelbase, it was not as noticeable as it might be on a larger machine. And, because it was lighter and because the suspension was stiff, it didn't bottom out as much as I thought it would. I didn't put skid plates on the 500 until later and it was because I didn't feel they were a necessity right away.
I wanted the p500 to be a little quicker through the rough stuff so I added a set of Walker Evans shocks to all four corners. This turned it from a fun little trail tractor into an awesome go-cart for the woods. At the same time I put the shocks on, I also added full SSS skid plates because I knew I would be scraping now that I had a little more speed.
I was able to ride about 112 miles on the 500 with the awesome shock setup. It really was a much more comfortable machine and allowed you to hold a little more speed on trails. It was and will never be a fast machine, but it was fun. Until it wasn't. (This is where it gets really important)
I added 26 inch tires and a better suspension; so I went taller but not wider. My fun on the 500 ended when my new and comfy suspension ran out of travel when it hit a rock or stump that was covered in the weeds on a turn. I turned it over and hit a tree with the roll cage before it landed on it's side. The 500 was totaled and a very valuable lesson was learned; well several lessons: Never go taller without going wider. (My fault) And, no matter how awesome you can make 6 inches of suspension travel, reaching the limit of that travel is still a hard stop.
The 700 shared a lot of the qualities that I loved about the 500. (I had a 2017 Base) It was a true Honda. It felt raw and reliable. I didn't have paddle shifting or power steering on this one and can't give you an honest "do I need power steering" review because I didn't have it long enough to tell. After about three weeks of owning it and only taking it around my neighborhood with my kids and to the fishing pond in the back of my neighborhood, I put skid plates on and 27 inch Tusk Terrabites on the stock wheels. I felt this was an awesome setup for the 700. It didn't raise it up enough to require me to go wider and it had plenty of power to turn them. The first real off road experience I had with it was at a local(ish) offroad park. No high speed trails but a lot of difficult things to try. The second real experience I had was at Ride Royal Blue right before this covid lockdown stuff.
IN the rough stuff, the suspension felt fine. The 700 was able to move quicker with comfort than the 500. I didn't feel the suspension needed to be upgraded in order for the machine to be enjoyed. The first thing I realized was how important it was for me to have the skid plates. I scraped the bottom within the first few minutes and never stopped. The ground clearance was pretty good but because the wheelbase is longer and because it's wider, it's going to scrape. If I didn't have the skid plates, I would have put it back on the trailer. But I'm pretty protective of my toys and have a hard time damaging things on them when I know I could have protected them.
There are various reviews regarding capability and power with the 700. I didn't experience this but I also knew it wasn't supposed to be a high power machine. I didn't expect to have wheel speed for climbing steep hills etc. It climbed the rocks just fine and actually surprised me in how capable it really was. It did not have a touchy throttle so it was very stable for those "pucker" moments when too much throttle could put you in harms way. I think the best way to say it is, the 700 has enough power to show you a good time. If it had a lot more power, it might be easy to push it past it's capabilities in terms of safety. The 700 is a tank, will take you through a lot of stuff and is super reliable.
Now, some little nuances:
The 500 was much easier to clean after a ride. The 700-4 was a pain in the A55. Lots of little areas to get into. I like washing my toys so it didn't bother me much but some don't have find cleaning them to be an enjoyable activity.
Neither machine has the aftermarket support that the 1000 has. But I think the 500 had more than the 700. The dump bed on the 700 was handy but I enjoyed the blank canvas design of the 500. I ended up putting a HDPE plastic flatbed on it with some L channel brackets so I could strap all of my stuff down.
If you are purchasing either of these and then riding with friends on RzR's, Can Am's, Talons, etc... you will be left behind. I ride with a friend that has a Polaris General on trails in wisconsin. Many of them require us to ride snowmobile "grade" trails for quite a ways in order to reach the fun trails in the woods. In those situations on both machines, I didn't have to worry about dust because I couldn't keep up.
I never felt that power steering was needed on the 500. Even with the larger tires, it felt fine. The 700 really could have used it in some of the technical areas of the trail. It was manageable, but power steering would have been nice. If I had a more aggressive tire than the terrabites, it might have been even more noticeable though.
In all, both machines really were great. They both had plenty of power for their capabilities and both created confidence of riding a reliable machine.
Sorry for the length of the post but it seems to happen often with me. And, it's the information I wish I could have found when purchasing my SxS's
Good luck with your research and purchase and feel free to ask any other questions.
