" I definitely want to go out in the wet but I either need more experience or training. I talk about training a lot but then I'm tight fisted about spending the mulah."
It's a catch-22 here: you want to go out in the wet but need the experience - but you won't get the experience if you don't go out in it.
One piece of advice I got from a mate at work (with 30+ years exp on bikes): "It isn't wet roads, or diesel spills, or daft car drivers that cause accidents; it's not knowing how to handle them that's the problem".
I got caught in snow last year on the A9 Perth - Inverness road at stupid o'clock in the morning (effectively in the middle of nowhere), which left me with the choice of a) a long run back to Perth or b) press on to Inverness with a fair distance to go. I decided to press on northwards. Can't say it were fun, but with some care, I made it up without incident (indeed, the bike probably coped better than I did, and them Battlax 020's were rock-steady even through the crap cold A9 weather, and the wet greasy roundabouts in Inverness).
I were "lucky" (if you can call it that) in that when I were preparing for my test (over winter '08 / '09) I had lessons in a variety of weathers (heavy rain, high winds, cold but dry days etc), and decent weather on test day - but the lessons I had in poor weather, and the experience I gained from it, proved invaluable. One lesson I had were on a road prone to crosswinds (I knew the road well, I used to go to work on that road during my L-plate days, and were aware of the crosswinds) - my instructor seemed quite surprised that I'd "coped so well with it".
You mention training, but mention being tight-fisted with money: I'd argue that training (whatever it costs) is worth every penny if it saves your bacon in situations you're uncertain of - there's no merit saying "I wish I'd..." if you throw it down the road (training will work out cheaper than weeks off work with no income...).
I've heard the "can I trust my bike / tyres?" question a few times; fact is most bikes / tyres are more capable than the human operator.
