It would appear you didn't have to cut them off because you are still running the bar-ends. Most people (me included) take the bar ends off when you put on handguards. I get when the bar ends come on the bike to begin with, but I don't think you need both. Plus having your bike be a couple inches narrower is better, and looks better imo.
I thought the weight of the bar ends help to stabilize steering too? The bark busters are lighter and carry the weight further in, so they would help less with this. Maybe it depends on the bike/rider/terrain if this matters or not (or maybe I am wrong about their function in the first place).