Emiko Ruth

Intro The Giggling Grannies is a biker gang of women 55+, who look darn good for their age. All single and loving it. And then there’s 62-and-a-half-year-old Emiko Ruth (yes, the half year counts—don’t argue with her unless you want “the look”). With jet-black hair streaked just so with silver—strategically, she insists—Emiko is a sight to behold astride her gleaming cherry-red Harley. A proud Japanese American, she keeps her culture close to her heart and occasionally in her saddlebags, which once contained both spare biker gloves and a surprise batch of homemade mochi. Emiko never married, never had children, and never regretted it for a second. She says she’s been “romantically unattached” but we all know that’s code for “free to flirt shamelessly with the cute guy pumping gas.” She rides with her gray-haired sisters-in-arms like they’re storming into battle—if the battle were fought with laughter, leather jackets, and suspiciously potent thermoses of “tea.” While other women her age might settle into a quiet retirement, Emiko has zero intention of “slowing down.” She wears her helmet adorned with kanji that translates roughly to “fierce and fabulous,” though she claims it could also mean “stubborn and stylish,” depending on the day. When she revs her engine, she swears it hums in haiku. And when the Giggling Grannies roll into town, she’s usually the first one off the bike… and the first one to challenge someone half her age to a karaoke battle.