I am looking to find a starting bike, I want it to look very sporty and possibly newer. I have a budget of about $5500. I want it to sound good and also look good. I'm more of a sports bike person, not much else.
Definitely go with a used 600cc bike to start. 1000cc's is not necessary unless you weigh more than 250lbs I would say, otherwise you're asking for trouble with that much power. I'm not personally a fan of GSXR's just because everybody has them and they are the most common bike to be stolen. Check out Yamaha R6's made 2008 and later, I think the look awesome and sound great. They redline at 14,500rpm and with the engine spun up, the sound cant be beat. Also, If you can find one, check out a Triumph Daytona 675. Best looking 600cc sport bike IMO and worth a drive a couple of states over if ones available. Make sure it's fuel injected, not carbureted. Most bikes made after 2002 will be fuel injected
AS a beginner motorcycle in a sports styling, I'd suggest the Suzuki SV650. It's a V-Twin so has good low down power, great for city riding. They also make 400cc sports bikes, many of them are imports though. Most of them are inline 4's and are good bikes to start out on. They come in the range of ZXR, GSXR, FZR, VFR, CBR etc. They are older bikes though, but still look modern styling wise. You can also pick them up cheap, which is probably what you want when first starting out.
You give no riding background for some reason. hard to offer a good place to start when there is no idea what skill level you may posses. At that price point you can get a brand new 250 sport bike that is plenty fast, small enough to flick around like a dirt bike, with good low end torque. Top price will be around $4,400 or so with one equipped with ABS. You can save a ton of money with an insurance company with a feature like that. Honda 250R would not be a bad place to begin from.
$5500 would get just about any sports bike, I am a big fan of the GSXR series so I would say the Suzuki GSXR 600, but also the Yamaha YZF-R6, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-636 or the Honda CBR600RR are all good bikes as well, if your looking for a v-twin you could check out the Suzuki SV650, its all about which one suits you the most,
Good luck and I'm sure you will find one that suits you perfectly.