David asks:
"OK. But, does anybody know anything about the maker? Who was Gion?"
I would presume the maker to be Giovanni Pelizzoli. His signature (name in inverted form) on the funny bike, here:
http://www.flickr.com/
looks nearly exactly like that on my Ciocc--sorry no picture, but you can sort of see it here:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/
Gion is perhaps an abbreviation for Giovanni? Maybe "Gion" was an experiment with a new brand.
Ryan Hildebrand
Costa Mesa, Calif.