I have heard of this. In fact I first saw it on the Karl Pilkington show where he traveled around.
I'd say no for me but my family is sort of old school and we still have some of our 'victorian' traditions that never stopped. One is the practice of photos of our recently passed. My family still does this. I rarely share it with others as they find it odd or gross, but it was pretty common in the 19th century. So, yes, not as extreme as this.
I bet the motorcycle man did perish that way, sad. I have a doctor friend who calls motorcycles, 'donorcycles' I guess that's a pretty common term in the medical field.