I'm not sure about the MT500 , but my wife and I have just come back from crossing Algeria on MT350's - the replacement to the 500.
We rode the bikes from Banjul ( Gambia) east to Agadez (Niger) and up through Algeria to Algier.
Judging by the way the MT350's behaved in the sand you should have little trouble. The worst niggle I found was that the gearing is wrong for tarmac ( though perfect for soft sand ) and I got a little frustrated on good roads at being only able to do 90kph or so...
You will probably need to keep a good eye on chain and tyre wear ( we destroyed both chains and tyres in 6000km ) , and judging by the 500's reputation I would suggest you take a spare reg/rect unit since the heat may destroy yours ( hard work in soft sand , engine gets very hot and there's bugger all ventilation at low speed).
I would also suggest you take a spare 'road' front sprocket with you with 1 or 2 more teeth than you use in the sand, i.e. gear for higher revs in sand where the power is needed at low speed. We didn't carry spare road sprockets and it cause a few frustrations.
Ray
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